1 


1 


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OF  THE 
AT 

PRINCETON,   N.  J. 

x>  o  iw  ^v-r  i  o  sw     ov 

SAMUEL    AONEW, 

OF     PHILADELPHIA,    PA. 

G4t>. 


;  / 


Case,  "'vision A... 

Shelf,  Section"S)<Q53£li. . . 

|)     '  Book,  *.        -W^ffi     ™| 


LECTURES, 


ON  THE 

LITERARY    HISTORY  OF  THE  BIBLE, 

BY  REV.  JOEL  HA  WES  ; 

ON  THE 

PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

AS  GIVING  DIGNITY  TO 

THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER, 

BY  REV.  T.  H.  GALLAIDET  ; 
AND  ON  THE 

TEMPORAL  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH, 

BY  REV.  HORACE  HOOKER. 


ORIGINALLY  DELIVERED  BEFORE  THE  GOODRICH  ASSOCIATION. 


HARTFORD: 
PUBLISHED  BY  COOKE  AND  CO. 

1833. 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1833,  by  Cooke  and 
Co.  in  the  Clerk's  office  of  the  District  Court  of  Connecticut. 


P.  CANFIELD— PRINTER, 
HARTFORD. 


PUBLISHERS'  ADVERTISEMENT. 


The  following  Lectures  were  originally  delivered 
before  the  Goodrich  Association,  in  this  city  ; 
and  having  been  received  with  marked  appro- 
bation, they  are  noxo  presented  to  the  public,  with 
the  consent  of  the  authors. 
Hartford,  May  1,  1833. 


LECTURE 


ON  THE 


LITERARY  HISTORY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


BY  REV,  JOEL  HA  WES. 


LECTURE 


ON  THE 


LITERARY  HISTORY  OF  THE  BIBLE. 


There  lies  before  me  a  volume  called  the  Bible  ; 
that  is,  by  way  of  eminence,  the  Book.  It  claims  to  be 
of  divine  origin.  Its  antiquity  is  very  great.  Its  con- 
tents are  of  the  deepest  interest ;  and  it  has  exerted  a 
more  decided  influence  over  the  condition  of  men,  than 
any  other,  or  perhaps  all  other  books  united.  I  know 
not  how  I  can  better  perform  the  part  assigned  me  in 
sustaining  these  Lectures,  than  by  presenting  an  outline 
of  the  literary  history,  present  state,  and  future 
prospects  of  this  Book. 

We  are  accustomed  to  speak  of  the  Bible  as  one  book, 
and,  in  a  qualified  sense,  this  is  true.  Its  origin,  con- 
sidered as  divine,  is  one  ;  its  doctrine  is  one  ;  its  rule  of 
life  is  one,  and  the  object  at  which  it  aims  is  one.  At 
the  same  time,  it  consists  of  a  great  number  of  different 
compositions,  written  by  several  persons,  at  distant 
periods,  in  different  languages,  and  on  various  subjects. 


8  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

The  Pentateuch,  or  the  first  five  books  of  the  Bible, 
is  the  oldest  surviving  production  of  the  human  mind. 
It  was  written  by  Moses,  the  inspired  lawgiver  of  Israel, 
about  fifteen  hundred  years  before  the  Christian  era, 
and  nearly  six  hundred  years  before  Homer  and  Hesiod, 
the  oldest  Greek  authors  of  whom  we-have  any  account. 
The  other  books,  composing  the  Old  Testament,  were 
written  at  different  intervals,  during  a  period  of  some- 
thing more  than  a  thousand  years.  After  this  there 
was  a  period  of  about  four  hundred  years,  when  the 
spirit  of  prophecy  and  of  revelation  ceased  among  the 
Jews,  and  no  additions  were  made  to  their  sacred  books. 
At  the  end  of  this  period,  the  great  Teacher,  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  made  his  appearance  on  earth  ;  and  hav- 
ing, by  his  own  ministry,  introduced  that  new  dispen- 
sation, under  which  it  is  our  privilege  to  live,  he  com- 
missioned his  Apostles,  first  to  publish  the  facts  and 
doctrines  of  his  gospel,  orally,  and  then  to  transmit 
them  to  future  generations  in  the  form  of  a  permanent 
record.  That  record  we  have  in  the  pages  of  the  New 
Testament.  It  was  written  at  different  times  and  by 
different  authors,  during  a  period  of  more  than  sixty 
years  after  the  resurrection  of  Christ ;  so  that  the  Bible, 
as  we  now  have  it,  was  being  composed  nearly  sixteen 
hundred  years. 

The  books  contained  in  the  Old  Testament  were 
collected  into  one  volume  by  Ezra,  soon  after  the  Baby- 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  9 

lonish  captivity  ;  and  appointed  portions  of  them  were 
statedly  read  in  the  synagogues  and  in  the  temple,  as  a 
part  of  public  worship.  That  these  books,  and  only 
these,  were  received  by  the  ancient  Jews  as  of  divine 
authority,  is  the  concurrent  voice  of  all  antiquity.  They 
are  often  spoken  of  by  Philo  and  Josephus,  as  the  only 
accredited  sacred  writings  of  their  nation.  They  were 
received  in  this  character  by  Christ  and  his  Apostles, 
who  uniformly  referred  to  them  as  the  Scriptures,  in 
distinction  from  all  other  writings,  and  represented  them 
as  having  been  given  by  inspiration — as  being  the  word 
of  God. 

In  respect  to  the  New  Testament,  we  have  evidence 
that  the  different  writings  of  which  it  is  composed,  at 
least  the  principal  of  them,  were  collected  into  a  volume 
before  the  death  of  the  Apostle  John.  They  were 
translated  before  the  middle  of  the  second  century  into 
what  is  called  the  Old  Syriac  version,  for  the  use  of  the 
eastern  Christians  ;  and  about  the  same  time  into  Latin 
for  the  use  of  the  western  Christians.  Eusebius,  who 
flourished  at  the  close  of  the  third  and  beginning  of  the 
fourth  century,  has  preserved  a  full  catalogue  of  the 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  and  they  are  the  same 
that  are  found  in  our  Bibles  at  the  present  day.  I  will 
simply  add,  in  passing,  that  the  authenticity  and  genu- 
ineness of  the  various  books  that  compose  the  Bible,  are 
proved  by  an  amount  of  evidence  that  can  be  brought 
to  bear  on  no  other  writings  of  antiquity. 


10  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

The  books  of  the  Old  Testament  were  written  in  the 
Hebrew  language.     This,  by  some  learned  men,  has 
been  considered   as  the  oldest,  or   primitive  language 
of  man.     It  seems  more  probable,  however,  that  it  is 
only  a  dialect  of  an  ancient  language  which  was  spoken 
originally  in  Palestine,  Syria,  Phoenicia,  Mesopotamia, 
Arabia,  Ethiopia,  and  Babylonia.*     In  the  time  of  our 
Saviour,  the  Hebrew,  as  it  existed  in  the  days  of  Moses 
and  Solomon,  was  no  longer  a  living  language.     In 
consequence  of  their  long  exile  in  Babylon,  and  their 
intercourse  with  surrounding  nations,  the  Jews  had  lost 
the  use  of  their  original  tongue,  and  had  adopted  a  dia- 
lect which  is  usually  denominated  the  Syro-Chaldaic, 
being  formed  of  a  mixture  of  the  Syriac  and  Chaldaic, 
with  the  ancient  Hebrew.     This  was  the  language  spo- 
ken in  Palestine,  in  the  time  of  our  Saviour,  and  in 
which  he  communicated  his  divine  instructions.     The 
books  of  the  New  Testament,  however,  were  written  in 
Greek,  and  for  the  obvious  reason,  that  this  was  then  a 
kind  of  universal  language,  being  spoken  and  under- 
stood throughout  the  Roman  empire,  and  especially  in 
the  eastern  provinces.      For  the  same  reason  the  Old 
Testament  had  been  translated  into  what  is  called  the 
Greek  version  of  the  Seventy,  or  the  Septuagint,  two 
hundred  and  eighty  years  before  the  Christian  era.     It 

*  Carpenter's  Lectures  on  Biblical  Criticism. 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  11 

was  intended  particularly  for  the  use  of  the  Jews  who 
resided  in  foreign  countries,  and  had  come  to  understand 
the  Greek  language  better  than  they  did  their  vernacu- 
lar tongue. 

Before  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing  in  1440, 
the  sacred  Scriptures,  like  all  other  books,  were  preserv- 
ed only  in  manuscript.  They  were  written  on  parch- 
ment or  vellum  prepared  from  the  skins  of  animals,  and 
usually  executed  with  extreme  accuracy  and  beauty. 
Some  of  the  Greek  manuscripts  of  the  New  Testament, 
that  have  come  down  to  us,  are  thought  to  have  been 
written  as  early  as  the  fifth  or  sixth  century.  Of  the 
Hebrew  manuscripts,  there  are  none  extant  that  can 
claim  an  earlier  date  than  the  12th  or  13th  century. 
There  is  no  reason  to  suppose,  however,  that  the  sacred 
text  has,  in  any  material  points,  been  interpolated,  or 
corrupted.  From  the  ancient  versions  of  the  Scriptures, 
from  the  writings  of  the  fathers,  and  from  a  comparison 
of  manuscripts,  it  has  been  shown,  in  the  most  satisfac- 
tory manner,  by  biblical  scholars,  that  our  sacred  books 
have  been  preserved  in  great  purity,  and  are  in  all 
essential  matters,  what  they  were  when  they  came  from 
the  hands  of  their  authors.  In  the  beginning  of  the 
last  century  great  alarm  was  excited  by  the  vast 
number  of  various  readings  that  were  discovered  by 
critics,  in  examining  and  comparing  ancient  manu- 
scripts.    Infidels  began  to  triumph  at  the  discovery  of 


12  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

an  argument  which  they  were  confident  would  at  once 
overthrow  the  authority  of  the  Scriptures  ;    and  even 
Christians  expressed  some  uneasiness,  lest  the  founda- 
tions of  their  faith  should  be  affected,  and  uncertainty 
be  introduced  into   the  doctrines  of  the  gospel.     Dr. 
Mill  discovered  30,000  various  readings  in  the  New 
Testament ;   many  more  have  since   been  discovered, 
and  those  that  have  been  found  in  collating  various 
manuscripts  of  the  Old  Testament,  have  risen  to  many 
hundred  thousand.     But  what  do  these  various  readings 
amount  to  ?      In  a  vast  majority  of  cases  to  nothing 
more  than  whether  an  i  shall  be  dotted,  and  a  t  crossed, 
or  whether  you  shall  spell  the  word  honor,  honour,  or,  or. 
Not  one  of  a  thousand  of  these  various  readings  affects 
the  sense  of  the  passages  where  they  occur ;  and  not 
one  of  all  of  them,  teaches  any  doctrine,  or  states  any 
fact  which  is  not  to  be  found  elsewhere  in  the  Bible. 
It  is  acknowledged  by  the  very  critics  by  whose  indus- 
try the  various  readings  have  been  collected,  that  the 
sacred  text  is  competently  exact,  even  in  the  worst 
manuscript  now  extant,  and  that  not  one  article  of  faith 
or  moral  precept  is  either  perverted  or  lost  in  it.     We 
may  therefore  say,  with  one  of  the  most  eminent  of 
critics  ;* — w  Put  the  thirty  thousand  various  readings  that 
have  been  discovered  in  manuscripts  of  the  New  Tes- 
tament into  the  hands  of  a  knave  or  a  fool,  and  make 

*  Dr.  Bentley. 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  13 

them  as  many  more,  if  numbers  of  copies  can  ever  be 
found  to  reach  that  sum ;  and  yet,  with  the  most  sinistrous 
and  absurd  choice,  he  shall  not  extinguish  the  light  of 
any  one  chapter,  nor  so  disguise  Christianity,  but  that 
every  feature  of  it  will  be  the  same."  At  the  same  time, 
it  is  consoling  to  the  Christian  mind  to  know,  that  while 
the  industry  of  Biblical  scholars  has  brought  to  light  so 
great  a  number  of  various  readings  in  the  sacred  text, 
no  one  point  of  doctrine  or  duty  is  affected  by  the  dis- 
covery, and  that  the  result  of  their  labors  has  been  to 
settle  the  text  on  a  permanent  basis,  and  to  increase 
our  confidence  in  its  general  purity  and  correctness. 

Originally  there  were  no  breaks  or  divisions  of  the 
sacred  books  into  chapters  and  verses,  or  even  into 
words  ;  so  that  a  whole  line,  and  even  a  whole  book,  as 
anciently  written,  was  in  fact  but  one  continued  word. 
So  late  as  the  fourth,  and  even  the  fifth  century,  the 
New  Testament  had  none  of  the  ordinary  marks  of 
distinction,  but  each  book  was  entire,  with  no  chapters 
or  verses,  and  no  points  of  punctuation.  The  invention 
of  our  present  chapters  was  by  cardinal  Hugo,  who 
flourished  about  the  year  1240. 

The  method  of  distinguishing  the  verses  by  figures, 
as  is  now  seen  in  our  Bibles,  was  introduced  into  the 
Old  Testament  by  Athias,  a  Jew  of  Amsterdam,  who, 
jn  1661,  and  1667,  published  two  very  correct  editions 
of  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  having  the  verses  marked  in 

2 


14  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

this  manner.  What  was  thus  done  for  the  Old  Testa- 
ment by  Athias,  was  effected  for  the  New  by  Robert 
Stephens,  a  French  printer,  about  the  rriiddle  of  the 
16th  century,  during  a  journey  from  Paris  to  Lyons. 
Such  is  the  origin  of  the  present  chapters  and  verses  in 
our  Bibles.  That  these  divisions  are  of  much  use,  in 
facilitating  reference  to  the  Scriptures,  and  sometimes 
also  in  ascertaining  the  meaning  of  a  passage,  cannot 
be  doubted.  But  as  they  were  made  without  any  spe- 
cial reference  to  the  sense,  and  often  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  sense,  it  is  plain,  that  if  we  would  read  the  Scrip- 
tures understand ingly,  we  must  disregard  the  common 
distinctions  of  chapter  and  verse,  and  study  them  as  a 
connected  whole.  In  very  many  passages,  the  sense  is 
not  only  interrupted  but  destroyed,  by  the  disjoining  of 
what  ought  to  be  connected,  and  connecting  what  ought 
to  be  disjoined.  In  this  way,  the  chain  of  reasoning, 
especially  to  the  common  reader,  is  frequently  broken, 
the  sentences  mangled,  the  eye  misguided,  the  attention 
bewildered,  and  the  meaning  lost.  It  is  much  to  be 
desired,  therefore,  that  our  common  Bibles  were  printed 
with  a  continuous  or  unbroken  text,  or  that  they  were 
divided  only  into  sections  or  chapters,  corresponding  with 
the  real  divisions  of  subjects,  and  having  the  enumera- 
tion of  verses  upon  the  margin. 

Our  present  English  version  of  the  Bible  was  made 
in  the  reign  and  by  authority  of  James  I.     Previous  to 


OP  THE  BIBLE.  15 

this,  however,  there  had  been  several  versions  of  the 
Scriptures  into  English,  by  different  hands.  The  first 
of  these,  known  to  be  extant,  was  made  by  an  unknown 
individual,  in  the  year  1290.  About  one  hundred  years 
after  this,  John  Wiclif,  the  Apostle  of  England,  and  the 
morning  star  of  the  Reformation,  translated  the  entire 
Bible  from  the  Latin  Yulgate  into  the  English  language, 
as  then  spoken.  As  an  evidence  of  the  extreme  diffi- 
culty of  procuring  transcripts  of  the  Bible  before  the 
invention  of  printing,  and  of  the  high  value  in  which 
copies  were  held,  it  may  be  mentioned,  that  in  1429, 
the  price  of  one  of  Wiclif's  Testaments  was  about 
forty  pounds  sterling,  or  nearly  two  hundred  dollars  of 
our  money.  The  circulation  of  Wiclif's  Bible  among 
the  people,  gave  great  offence  to  the  ruling  authorities  of 
the  day,  and  it  was  condemned  to  be  burnt,  as  were  also 
many  persons  for  reading  it. 

In  1526,  the  New  Testament  was  translated  and 
published  in  English,  by  William  Tyndal.  This  was  a 
crime  for  which  he  was  condemned  to  death.  He  was 
strangled,  and  afterwards  burned.  He  expired,  praying 
repeatedly  and  earnestly,  "  Lord  open  the  king  of  Eng- 
land's eyes."  In  1535,  a  translation  of  the  whole  Bible, 
and  the  first  English  one  ever  printed,  and  the  first  also 
ever  allowed  by  royal  authority,  was  completed  under 
the  direction  of  Miles  Coveidale.  Through  the  influ- 
ence of  Archbishop  Cranmer,  an  order  was  obtained 


16  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

from  the  king  "  that  a  book  of  the  whole  Bible  should 
be  provided  and  laid  in  the  choir  for  every  man  that 
would  to  look  and  read  therein."  Several  other  edi- 
tions of  the  Scriptures  were  published  during  the  reigns 
of  Henry  VIII.  and  Edward  YL,  but  all  of  them  were 
only  revised  copies  of  Tyndal  and  Co verd ale's  transla- 
tion. Passing  over  these,  we  come  to  our  present  au- 
thorized version.  This,  as  already  stated,  was  made 
by  order  of  James  I.  In  1604,  the  king  nominated 
fifty-four  learned  men  to  re-translate,  revise  or  correct 
preceding  versions,  so  as  to  produce  as  perfect  a  transla- 
tion as  possible.  Of  these,  only  forty-seven  actually  en- 
gaged in  the  work,  the  others  having  died,  or  declined 
the  appointment.  They  were  men  of  distinguished 
piety,  and  profoundly  versed  in  a  knowledge  of  the 
original  languages  of  the  sacred  writings.  Those  who 
lived  to  engage  in  the  work  were  divided  into  six  com- 
panies. To  each  company  was  assigned  a  particular 
book  or  portion  of  the  Bible,  which  was  to  be  translated 
by  each  individual  belonging  to  that  division.  The 
book  thus  finished,  was  sent  to  each  of  the  other  com- 
panies, to  be  again  examined  ;  so  that  each  book  passed 
the  scrutiny  of  all  the  translators  successively.  Three 
entire  copies  of  the  Bible,  thus  translated  and  revised, 
were  finally  submitted  to  a  committee  of  six,  who  re- 
viewed and  polished  the  whole  work.  Nearly  three 
years  were  spent  in  completing  the  translation  ;  and 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  17 

from  this  account  of  it,  it  appears  that  no  time  or  pains 
were  spared  to  make  it  perfect.  It  was  puhlished  in 
folio,  in  1611,  and  has  ever  since  been  the  version  in 
common  use.  And  we  have  the  best  reasons,  on  the 
whole,  for  being  satisfied  with  it.  Doubtless,  with  the 
improvements  which  have  been  made  in  Biblical  know- 
ledge, some  corrections  might  be  made  in  our  present 
translation,  and  some  passages  rendered  more  clearly 
expressive  of  the  meaning  of  the  original.  But  take  it 
all  in  all,  our  English  Bible  is  a  noble  monument  of  the 
integrity,  fidelity  and  learning  of  its  venerable  transla- 
tors. Their  reverence  for  the  Sacred  Scriptures  induced 
them  to  be  as  literal  as  they  could,  to  avoid  obscurity  ; 
and  while  they  have  been  extremely  happy  in  the  sim- 
plicity and  dignity  of  their  expressions,  they  have,  by 
their  adherence  to  the  Hebrew  idiom,  at  once  enriched 
and    adorned   our   language.*      In  the  words  of  one 

*  "  It  is  remarkable  how  the  translators  have  been  influenced  not  only  by 
the  spirit  of  the  Scriptures,  which  pervades  the  whole  work,  but  by  their 
indestructible  metre,  a  metre  the  more  curious  and  surprising,  because  it 
has  none  of  the  monotony,  which  a  critic  would  have  pronounced  a  priori 
to  be  inseparable  from  it.  The  great  excellence  of  the  translation  is  due 
to  six  considerations.  First,  it  was  made  under  a  very  solemn  sense  of  the 
important  duty,  devolved  on  those  who  were  thus  selected.  Hence 
arose  that  prevailing  air  of  dignity,  gravity,  simplicity,  which  is  so  con- 
spicuous. Secondly,  the  translators  came  to  the  task,  looking  to  the 
thoughts,  not  to  the  style.  Their  object  was  not  that  of  all  other  translators, 
to  imitate  and  rival  the  beauty  of  style.  Their  sole  object  was  to  render 
faithfully,  and  in  a  plain  appropriate  style,  the  thoughts  of  the  sacred  wri- 

2* 


18  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

who  was  every  way  competent  to  judge  in  this  case  ; 
"  The  translators  have  seized  the  very  spirit  and  soul 
of  the  original,  and  expressed  this  almost  every  where 
with  pathos  and  energy.  They  have  not  only  made  a 
standard  translation,  but  they  have  made  their  trans- 
lation the  standard  of  our  language.  The  English 
tongue  in  their  day  was  not  equal  to  such  a  work.  But 
God  enabled  them  to  stand  as  upon  Mount  Sinai,  and 

lers.  Hence,  they  became  thoroughly  imbued  with  the  spirit  of  the  original ; 
and  gave  an  incomparably  better  version  of  the  Hebrew  and  Greek  Testa- 
ments, than  any  or  all  of  them  together  could  have  done  of  any  classic. 
Had  each  of  them  left  us  translations  of  some  classic,  I  hesitate  not  to  say, 
they  would  not  now  have  been  found  in  any  library,  but  as  mere  curiosi- 
ties. Thirdly,  the  number  of  persons  employed  contributed  very  much  to 
prevent  any  personal  style  from  prevailing  ;  and  gave  to  the  whole  an  air 
of  plain,  simple  uniformity.  Fourthly,  the  sera  was  providential  in  one  im- 
portant view.  As  the  translation  was  made  before  all  the  bitterness  of 
sectarian  spirit  distracted  the  English  Protestant  Church,  it  was  executed 
far  less  with  a  view  to  party  differences,  than  could  have  been  the  case,  at 
any  time  afterwards.  Fifthly,  fortunately  the  only  great  religious  differ- 
ence, that  could  have  affected  it,  was  the  dispute  with  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  as  to  that,  all  Protestants  were  agreed  in  England,  on  every  important 
point.  Sixthly,  the  English  language  was  then  at  the  happiest  stage  of 
its  progress,  with  all  the  strength,  simplicity,  and  clearness  of  the  Elder 
Literature  ;  whilst,  at  the  same  time,  it  was  free  from  the  cant  of  the  age  of 
Charles  I.  and  Cromwell,  from  the  vulgarity  and  levity  of  that  of  Charles 
II.,  and  from  the  artificial  character  of  that  of  Anne. 

"  Such  a  translation  is  an  illustrious  monument  of  the  age,  the  nation,  and 
the  language.  It  is,  properly  speaking,  less  a  translation  than  an  original ; 
having  most  of  the  merit  of  the  former  as  to  style,  and  all  the  merit  of  the 
latter  as  to  thought.  It  is  the  noblest,  best,  most  finished  classic  of  the 
English  tongue." — Grimke's  Oration  before  the  $  B  K  Society. 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  19 

crane  up  their  country's  language  to  the  dignity  of  the 
original,  so  that  after  the  lapse  of  two  hundred  years, 
the  English  Bible  is,  with  very  few  exceptions,  the 
standard  of  the  purity  and  excellence  of  the  English 
tongue.  The  original  from  which  it  was  taken  is  alone 
superior  to  the  Bible  translated  by  the  authority  of  King 
James."* 

To  this  book  we  are  much  more  deeply  indebted  than 
we  are  apt  to  acknowledge.  Its  blessings,  like  the  air 
that  sustains,  or  the  light  that  cheers  us,  are  falling 
around  us  in  such  silent,  yet  profuse  and  constant  abun- 
dance, that  we  are  not  a  little  exposed  to  forget  the 
source  of  them,  and  to  cease  to  feel  our  obligations  to  the 
Author  of  all  good  on  account  of  them.  Persons  unac- 
customed to  reflect  on  the  subject,  are  not  at  all  aware 
for  how  large  a  part  of  the  most  interesting  and  impor- 
tant knowledge  we  possess,  we  are  indebted  to  the  Bible. 
Without  the  Bible,  we  should  know  nothing  of  the  ori- 
gin of  the  world,  nor  of  its  history  for  more  than  three 
thousand  years.  We  should  know  nothing  of  the  origin 
of  man,  nor  of  his  ultimate  destiny.  We  should  know 
nothing  of  the  true  character  of  the  great  Being  who 
made  and  governs  the  world  ;  nothing  of  the  nature 
and  design  of  his  government  over  us  ;  nor  of  the  ten- 
dency of  the  various  dispensations  under  which  we  are 
appointed  to  live ;    nor,  in  short,  of  any  thing  which 

*  Dr.  Adam  Clarke. 


20  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

relates  to  our  spiritual  and  immortal  part,  and  the  scenes 
that  await  us  beyond  this  transient  state  of  being.  If  I 
am  asked  for  proof  of  this,  I  point  to  the  actual  condi- 
tion of  three  fourths  of  the  human  family,  who  are  with- 
out the  Bible.  What  is  the  present  state  of  all  those 
nations  that  enjoy  not  the  light  of  Revelation,  and  what 
has  it  been  from  time  immemorial  ?  Enveloped  in 
profound  darkness  on  all  the  subjects  that  have  just 
been  enumerated.  And  I  know  of  no  reason  why  we 
are  not  in  the  same  state,  except  that  we  have  had  the 
Bible  in  our  hands,  and  have  been  taught  to  read  and 
understand  its  sublime  discoveries.  It  cannot  certainly 
be  pretended  that  we,  or  that  the  dwellers  in  Christian 
lands,  are  more  richly  gifted  with  intellect  and  genius, 
than  are  the  inhabitants  of  heathen  countries,  or  than 
were  the  philosophers  and  sages  of  ancient  Greece  and 
Rome.  And  yet  it  may  truly  be  said,  that  a  child 
eight  years  old  in  a  Sabbath  school,  has  a  better  know- 
ledge of  God  and  the  soul,  and  of  the  origin,  duties  and 
prospects  of  man,  than  the  best  instructed  among  the 
nations  of  paganism.  Nor  can  it  be  denied,  that  the 
men  in  Christian  lands,  who  at  different  times,  have 
risen  up  to  discard  revelation,  and  contended  for  the 
sufficiency  of  reason,  have  owed  all  their  superiority 
over  the  poor  heathen,  in  moral  and  religious  know- 
ledge, to  that  very  light  which  they  labored  to  extin- 
guish.     Not  to  mention  others,  there  are  especially 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  21 

three  great  truths,  for  the  knowledge  of  which  we  are 
wholly  indebted  to  the  Bible. 

1.  The  first  is  the  existence  of  one  all  perfect  God, 
the  creator,  sovereign,  and  judge  of  the  world.  That 
the  knowledge  of  this  truth  has  been  preserved  among 
men  by  the  Bible,  and  only  by  the  Bible,  is  evident 
from  the  fact,  that  wherever  men  have  been  without  the 
Bible,  they  have  universally  become  polytheists  and 
idolators.  An  exception  is  not  known  either  among 
savage  or  civilized  nations. 

2.  The  immortality  of  the  soul.  This  truth  was 
indeed  known  to  some  extent,  among  the  nations  that 
had  no  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures.  But  it  was  mixed 
with  much  error,  and  clouded  in  great  darkness  and 
doubt.  Cicero,  who  was  incomparably  the  ablest  de- 
fender of  the  soul's  immortality,  of  which  the  heathen 
world  can  boast,  very  ingenuously  confesses,  that,  not- 
withstanding all  his  arguments  to  confirm  the  doctrine  in 
question,  his  mind  was  satisfied  of  it,  only  when  directly 
employed  in  contemplating  the  arguments  adduced  in 
its  favor.  At  all  other  times  he  fell,  unconsciously,  into 
a  state  of  doubt  and  darkness.  And  Socrates,  while  he 
had  some  glimmerings  of  this  great  truth,  and  some- 
times spoke  of  it  with  much  feeling  and  eloquence,  yet 
shortly  before  his  death,  expressed  himself  extremely 
doubtful  respecting  it,  and  said  to  his  friends,  that 
though  he  should  be  mistaken,  he  should  at  least  gain 


22  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

this  much,  that  the  expectation  of  it  made  him  less  un- 
easy while  he  lived,  and  his  error  would  die  with  him  ; 
and  he  concludes  in  the  following  terms  :  "  I  am  going 
out  of  the  world,  and  you  are  to  continue  in  it ;  but 
which  of  us  has  the  better  part,  is  a  secret  to  every 
one  but  God." 

For  certainty,  then,  respecting  this  great  truth,  we 
can  look  nowhere  but  to  the  Bible.  There  life  and 
immortality  are  fully  brought  to  light  ;  especially  so  in 
the  gospel ;  and  man,  frail  and  perishable  man,  may 
lopk  with  calmness  to  the  end  of  his  mortal  course,  and 
console  himself  in  the  hope  that  he  is  to  survive  all  the 
changes  of  time  and  live  forever. 

It  is  indeed  the  opinion  of  some,  and  the  sentiment 
is  becoming  rather  popular  with  a  certain  class  of  per- 
sons at  the  present  day,  that  the  Old  Testament  gives 
no  intimations  of  a  future  state  of  existence,  and  that  the 
Jews,  before  our  Saviour's  time,  had  no  knowledge  of 
the  immortality  of  the  soul.  It  is  a  little  remarkable, 
at  the  same  time,  that  these  very  persons  are  accus- 
tomed to  speak  of  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  as  gene- 
rally understood  and  believed  among  the  heathen  ; 
thus  representing  the  Jews,  God's  chosen  people,  and 
favored  with  the  light  of  Revelation,  as  more  profoundly 
ignorant  of  the  soul's  immortality,  than  their  heathen 
neighbors.  This  is  not  the  time  nor  the  place  to  discuss 
this  subject.     But  it  seems  passing  strange,  that  any 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  23 

one,  who  has  ever  read  the  sacred  Scriptures,  should 
adopt  such  a  notion.  It  may  be  admitted,  and  the 
reasons  of  it  could  easily  be  assigned,  that  under  the 
Mosaic  theocracy,  the  doctrine  of  rewards  and  punish- 
ments was  in  a  great  measure  confined  to  temporal 
good  and  evil.  But  will  it  hence  follow  that  the  Jews 
had  no  knowledge  of  a  future  state  ;  or  that  the  sanc- 
tions of  good  and  ill  conduct,  in  respect  to  them,  were 
never  derived  from  the  retributive  scenes  of  another 
world  ?  What,  then,  did  Abraham  mean,  when  he 
looked  for  a  city  which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder 
and  maker  is  God  ;  and  Moses,  when  he  esteemed  the 
reproach  of  Christ,  or  for  Christ,  the  promised  Messiah, 
greater  riches  than  the  treasures  of  Egypt,  having  re- 
spect unto  the  recompense  of  reward  ;  and  David, 
and  Samuel,  and  the  Prophets,  and  the  long  catalogue 
of  worthies  mentioned  by  the  Apostle  in  his  Epistle  to 
the  Hebrews,  who  confessed  that  they  were  strangers 
and  pilgrims  on  earth  ;  who  desired  a  better  coun- 
try, even  an  heavenly  ;  submitting  to  cruel  mock- 
ings,  to  torture  and  death,  not  accepting  deliverance, 
that  they  might  obtain  a  better  resurrection  ?  And 
not  to  insist  on  many  other  passages  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment, where  the  doctrine  of  a  future  state  of  judgment 
and  account  is  clearly  implied,  what,  it  may  be  asked, 
did  Daniel  mean  when  he  said  ;  "  And  many  of  them 
that  sleep  in  the  dust  of  the  earth  shall  awake,  some  to 


24  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

everlasting  life,  and  some  to  shame  and  everlasting  con- 
tempt ;  and  they  that  be  wise  shall  shine  as  the  firma- 
ment, and  they  that  turn  many  to  righteousness  as  the 
brightness  of  the  firmament  forever  and  ever  ?"  Is  it 
conceivable,  that  these,  and  many  similar  passages  in 
the  Old  Testament,  had  their  meaning  exhausted  in 
reference  to  temporal  scenes  ;  or  that  the  people  to 
whom  they  were  originally  addressed,  had  no  know- 
ledge of  an  existence  beyond  the  grave  ?  The  doctrine 
of  the  soul's  immortality,  then,  is  taught,  not  only  in  the 
New,  but  also  in  the  Old  Testament  ;  and  the  Bible 
is  to  be  regarded  as  the  chief  and  the  only  infallible 
depository  among  men,  of  this  great  and  most  anima- 
ting truth. 

3.  The  third  truth  referred  to  as  taught  in  the  Bible, 
and  taught  nowhere  else,  is  deliverance  from  sin  and 
its  punishment  through  the  mediation  of  the  Lord  Jesus 
Christ.  This  primary  and  capital  truth,  the  revelation 
of  heaven  bears  on  its  very  front.  It  throws  a  broad 
and  cheering  light  over  all  the  pathway  of  life ;  illu- 
mines the  regions  beyond  ihe  grave,  and  raises  penitent, 
believing  man  to  fellowship  with  angels  and  God.  Its 
infinite  importance  we  cannot  know,  till  we  can  esti- 
mate the  value  of  the  soul,  and  comprehend  the  joys  of 
eternity.  If  you  would  learn  something  of  its  precious- 
pess,  go  and  contrast  the  darkness  and  gloom  that  op- 
press the  mind  and  hang  over  the  hopes  of  a  poor 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  25 

heathen,  as  he  approaches  the  hour  of  death,  with  the 
light  and  joy  that  fill  the  soul  of  him  who,  as  he  looks 
into  eternity,  can  say,  "  I  know  in  whom  I  have  be- 
lieved, and  am  persuaded  that  he  will  keep  that  which 
I  have  committed  to  him,  against  that  day." 

Of  the  literature  of  the  Bible — of  the  simplicity  and 
purity  that  mark  its  style — of  the  originality  and  gran- 
deur of  its  sentiments — of  its  poetry  and  eloquence — of 
its  rich  and  exhaustless  material  for  the  exercise  of 
deep  thought — for  cultivating  the  taste — for  invigorating 
the  imagination,  and  for  eliciting  and  improving  all  the 
best  feelings  and  faculties  of  the  soul ;  of  these  topics, 
admitting  of  varied  and  interesting  illustration,  time 
forbids  me  to  speak.  I  shall  pass  them  with  a  single 
trite  quotation  from  the  writings  of  Sir  William  Jones  ; 
a  man  eminently  qualified,  as  well  by  the  piety  of  his 
heart,  as  by  the  splendor  of  his  talents,  to  decide  in  a 
case  of  this  kind.  "  I  have  carefully  and  regularly 
perused  the  Scriptures,"  says  this  truly  great  and  learned 
man,  "  and  am  of  opinion,  that  this  volume,  indepen- 
dent of  its  divine  origin,  contains  more  sublimity,  purer 
morality,  more  important  history  and  finer  strains  of 
eloquence,  than  can  be  collected  from  all  other  books, 
in  whatever  language  they  may  have  been  written." 

That  the  Bible  is  decidedly  friendly  to  civil  and 
religious  freedom,  and  contains  the  only  principles  on 
which  true  liberty  can  rest  with  permanency,  must  be 

3 


26  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

obvious  to  every  one  who  knows  any  thing  of  its  spirit 
or  its  doctrines.  The  Hebrew  commonwealth  presents 
the  first  example  ever  witnessed  in  our  world,  of  a  fede- 
rate republic,  governed  by  equal  and  fixed  laws,  and 
securing  liberty  to  the  subject,  in  its  truest  and  best 
sense.*  Neither  tyrant  nor  pope  has  ever  been  able  to 
chain  down  the  minds  of  men,  or  subject  their  necks  to 
the  yoke  of  oppression,  while  they  had  the  Scriptures 
in  their  hands,  and  were  allowed  to  read  and  under- 
stand them.  The  work  of  subjugation  has  always 
been  preceded  by  locking  up  the  word  of  life  and  taking 
from  the  people  the  key  of  knowledge.  And  so  it  must 
be,  from  the  nature  of  the  case.  The  Bible  recognizes 
the  common  origin  and  common  rights  of  men  ;  and 
while  they  learn  from  this  infallible  source  of  instruc- 
tion, that  God  has  made  of  one  blood  all  nations  to 
dwell  on  all  the  face  of  the  earth  ;  that  he  has  fashioned 
them  alike  as  to  natural  rights  and  privileges,  and 
made  each  responsible  to  himself,  as  the  original  source 
of  power  and  government,  they  never  can  voluntarily 
submit  to  be  slaves  either  in  body  or  mind ;  either  to 
civil  or  ecclesiastical  domination.  I  will  only  add,  that 
if  the  liberties  of  our  beloved  country  are  to  be  preserved 
to  bless  future  generations,  it  must  be  by  spreading 
abroad,  through  the  land,  the  spirit  and  principles  of 
the  Bible.     And  if  they  are  ever  destroyed,  the  first 

*  See  Russel's  History  of  Palestine,  chap.  iii.  Hebrew  Commonwealth. 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  27 

blow  will  be  struck  by  men  who  disbelieve  and  hate  the 
Bible. 

That  the  Bible  is  the  great  awakener  of  intellect ; 
the  most  powerfully  exciting  cause  that  can  be  brought  to 
bear  on  the  mind  of  man,  might  be  shown  from  innu- 
merable facts,  but  especially  from  the  mighty  influ- 
ence it  exerted  in  bringing  about  the  Reformation. 
Erasmus,  and  men  like  Erasmus,  might  have  lived  and 
labored  in  the  cultivation  of  literature  a  thousand  years, 
and  the  nations  had  never  awoke  to  break  off  the  chains 
of  superstition  and  sottishness.  Such  a  man  as  Luther 
was  needed,  who  should  lift  up  his  voice  in  the  name  of 
God,  and  publish  his  word  to  the  slumbering  and  en- 
slaved nations.  This  he  did  ;  and  the  version  of  the 
Scriptures  made  and  published  by  him  in  the  vernacu- 
lar tongue  of  his  country,  produced,  as  Mosheim  re- 
marks, almost  incredible  effects,  and  contributed,  more 
than  any  other  cause,  to  overthrow  the  false  principles 
and  superstitious  practices  of  the  church  of  Rome. 

And  where,  let  me  ask,  has  the  mind  of  man  attained 
its  highest  perfection ;  the  arts  and  sciences  been  culti- 
vated with  the  greatest  success,  and  the  blessings  of 
general  education  enjoyed  in  the  greatest  abundance  ? 
Take  a  map  of  the  world,  and  draw  a  circle  around 
those  parts,  where  there  are  schools  and  academies  and 
colleges,  and  where,  in  consequence,  there  is  an  intelli- 
gent, enterprising  population,  and  you  will  enclose  those 


28  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

very  sections  of  our  globe  on  which  the  Bible  has  shed 
its  purest  and  brightest  light.  Take  the  map  and  again 
encircle  those  countries  where  there  are  hospitals,  alms- 
houses, asylums  and  retreats  for  the  unfortunate  and 
the  suffering,  and  charity  schools,  and  humane  and 
charitable  societies  for  the  relief  of  wretchedness,  and  the 
general  diffusion  of  knowledge  and  happiness  ;  and 
again  you  will  enclose  those  very  countries  where  the 
principles  of  the  Bible  have  taken  the  deepest  root  and 
had  the  fullest  sway  in  forming  the  character  of  the 
people.  These  are  the  monuments  which  proclaim  the 
spirit  and  tendency  of  the  Bible  ;  they  are  entirely  un- 
known, and  always  have  been  unknown  in  heathen 
lands  ;  they  are  exclusively  the  effects  of  the  Bible,  and 
they  demonstrate,  that  if  the  spirit  and  precepts  of  the 
sacred  volume  were  universally  imbibed  and  acted  upon, 
the  bliss  of  Paradise  would  revisit  the  earth,  and  the 
smiles  of  God  rest  upon  all  the  dwellings  of  men. 

In  passing  to  a  brief  notice  of  the  prospects  of  the 
Bible,  we  need  not  insist  upon  its  divine  inspiration, 
but  look  at  it  simply  as  a  human  composition. 

1.  And  the  first  thing  that  strikes  us  is,  that  there  is 
something  in  the  Bible  which  takes  a  deep  hold  of 
human  nature — something  that  approves  itself  to  the 
intellect  and  conscience,  to  the  feelings  and  wants  of 
man.  On  any  other  supposition,  it  were  the  greatest 
miracle  that  has  ever  been  heard  of,  that  for  so  many 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  29 

thousand  years,  and  in  circumstances  that  have  opposed 
the  most  powerful  resistance  to  its  claims,  it  should,  so 
extensively,  have  maintained  its  ascendancy  in  the  world 
and  enlisted  in  its  favor  such  an  amount  of  the  finest 
talent  and  deepest  learning  that  have  adorned  the  na- 
ture and  blessed  the  condition  of  man.  We  need  only 
look  at  the  power  of  the  Bible  over  the  minds  and 
hearts  of  men — not  of  the  uncultivated  and  ignorant 
merely,  but  of  the  best  educated  and  the  most  intelligent 
and  thinking  men,  and  we  must  be  satisfied,  that  there 
is  a  philosophy  in  the  Bible,  that  speaks  to  the  deepest 
feelings  of  our  nature,  and  is  in  entire  coincidence  with 
the  intellectual  and  moral  constitution  of  man.  Here 
indeed  lies  the  great  power  of  the  Bible  ;  it  is  in  sym- 
pathy with  the  nature  of  man  as  an  intelligent,  moral 
being.  It  speaks  to  his  feelings,  it  speaks  to  his  wants, 
it  speaks  to  his  hopes,  and  it  satisfies  them  all.  Here 
too  is  furnished  strong  presumptive  evidence  of  the 
continued  permanence  and  ultimate  triumph  of  the 
Bible  over  the  world.  You  say  that  the  philosophy  of 
Newton  will  go  on  to  prosper  and  extend  its  dominion, 
because  it  is  true  to  nature,  or  to  the  laws  of  the 
physical  world.  For  the  same  reason,  a  believer  in  the 
Bible  may  say,  that  that  will  go  on  to  prosper  and  ex- 
tend its  empire  over  man,  because  it  is  true  to  the  nature 
and  adapted  to  the  wants  of  man. 

3* 


30  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

2.  There  is  a  power  in  the  Bible,  which,  while  it 
tends  to  subdue  all  things  to  itself,  is  indestructible  by 
any  other  power  that  can  be  brought  against  it.  I  speak 
not  here  of  its  being  divine,  the  word  of  God,  and  that 
therefore  it  must  endure  forever  ;  nor  do  I  refer  simply 
to  the  fact  of  its  great  antiquity, — of  its  having  outlived 
all  its  cotemporaries,  and  still  retaining  the  freshness  of 
youth,  and  therefore  destined  to  live  forever.  I  refer 
rather  to  the  conflicts  in  which  the  Bible  has  actually 
been  engaged ;  to  the  combined  and  varied,  and  power- 
ful efforts  that  have  often  been  made  to  destroy  it,  and 
to  the  fact,  that  in  all  these  contests,  carried  on  some- 
times by  power,  sometimes  by  wit,  sometimes  by  learning, 
and  sometimes  by  all  united,  it  has  not  only  come  off 
conqueror,  but  more  than  conqueror.  In  every  onset 
of  its  foes,  it  has  risen  with  renewed  strength,  with  ex- 
tended empire  and  brighter  prospects.  It  has  fought 
the  battle  with  the  idolatries  and  atheism  of  ancient 
Greece  and  Rome,  and  triumphed.  It -has  fought  the 
battle  with  the  superstitions  and  corruptions  of  popery, 
that  had  been  gathering  strength  for  a  thousand  years, 
and  striking  their  roots  down  through  the  firm  frame- 
work of  society,  and  triumphed.  It  has  fought  the  bat- 
tle with  infidelity,  panoplied  in  talent,  and  genius,  and 
power,  and  marshalled  by  her  ablest  and  most  zealous 
captains,  and  triumphed.  It  has  also  fought  the  battle 
with  false  interpretation — that  formidable  enemy  which, 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  31 

a  few  years  since,  was  laboring  so  successfully,  especially 
on  the  continent  of  Europe,  to  destroy  the  power,  by 
taking  away  the  vital  principles  of  the  Bible,  and 
triumphed.  What  now  is  the  inference  from  these 
facts  ?  Why,  that  the  Bible  is  formed  of  indestructible 
material, — that  it  possesses  a  vital,  intrinsic  power, 
that  is  fitted  to  "  endure,  and  spread,  and  vanquish  the 
hearts  of  men."  The  sacred  volume,  we  see,  after 
having  repeatedly  passed  through  the  severest  ordeals 
to  which  its  enemies  could  subject  it,  is  still  holding  on 
the  even  tenor  of  its  way.  It  now  stands  on  higher 
vantage  ground  than  ever  before.  Its  decided  and  de- 
voted friends  are  far  more  numerous,  and  among  them 
is  a  full  proportion  of  the  talent  and  learning  that  are 
to  be  found  in  the  world. 

3.  It  is  a  fact  worthy  of  special  notice,  that,  among 
the  friends  of  the  Bible,  there  is  an  intelligent,  settled 
purpose  to  spread  the  knowledge  of  the  Scriptures 
through  the  world.  This  purpose  is  not  confined  to 
any  one  part  of  Christendom,  nor  to  any  one  denom- 
ination of  Christians.  It  is  common  to  all  true  and 
hearty  believers  in  the  Bible.  All  such,  of  whatever 
sect  or  name,  have  for  several  years  past,  been  coming 
under  the  influence  of  a  deep  seated  conviction,  that  the 
knowledge  of  the  Bible  ought,  with  the  least  possible 
delay,  to  be  imparted  to  all  mankind  ;  and  that  no  per- 
son, claiming  the  Christian  name,  can  be  excused  from 


32  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

bearing  a  part  in  this  benevolent  work.  This  is  no 
longer  a  sentiment  that  is  argued  and  discussed,  as  of 
doubtful  validity  ;  it  is  assumed  as  a  self-evident  princi- 
ple ;  it  makes  an  essential  part  of  Christian  morals,  and 
is  proceeded  upon  in  all  the  efforts  that  are  made  to 
sustain  and  extend  the  operations  of  our  public  benevo- 
lent societies,  as  a  maxim  well  understood  and  admitted 
by  all.  And  its  influence  is  becoming  very  great.  It 
is  seen  in  the  Sabbath  School,  in  the  Bible  class,  in  the 
Missionary  and  Bible  Society,  and  in  numerous  other 
associations,  that  have  been  formed,  all  having  in  view 
the  common  object  of  diffusing  the  knowledge  and 
extending  the  empire  of  the  Bible  over  the  world. 
These  societies  are  not  of  ephemeral  growth  ;  they 
were  not  gotten  up,  nor  are  they  sustained  by  passion, 
or  party  zeal.  They  rest  on  sober  intelligent  convic- 
tion of  truth  and  duty ;  they  exist  among  all  classes  of 
Christians,  and  in  every  Christian  country  ;  there  is 
no  decline  of  zeal  or  energy  in  the  support  of  them  ; 
on  the  contrary,  they  are  continually  rising  in  strength 
and  efficiency  ;  are  every  year  gathering  new  and  more 
determined  friends  to  the  common  cause,  and  are 
actually  looking,  with  strong  hope,  to  the  time,  as  fast 
approaching,  when  the  Bible  shall  become  the  book  of 
man,  and  be  read  of  all  nations.  That  the  purpose, 
then,  of  sending  the  scriptures  through  the  world, 
should  be  soon  abandoned,  is  the  most  unlikely  event 


OF  THE  BIBLE. 


33 


that  can  happen  ;  nor  is  it  doubtful,  if  it  be  maintained 
and  prosecuted,  that  it  will  finally  attain  its  object,  and 
put  the  book  of  God  into  the  hands  of  every  family  on 
earth. 

4.  For,  in  the  fourth  place,  notice  the  facilities  that  at 
present  exist  for  multiplying  and  circulating  copies  of 
the  scriptures.  Before  the  invention  of  printing,  the 
labor  of  transcribing  the  Bible  was  immense,  requiring 
many  months,  or  perhaps  a  year,  to  furnish  a  single 
copy.  Now  it  is  said  that  seventy-five  common  ISmo. 
Bibles  can  be  struck  off  in  an  hour  by  one  press.  At 
this  rate,  one  hundred  presses  could  in  three  years  sup- 
ply every  family  on  earth  with  a  Bible.  The  presses 
now  owned  by  the  American  Bible  Society,  might,  if 
kept  constantly  employed,  strike  off  500,000  Bibles  a 
year.  In  the  time  of  Wiclif,  a  single  New  Testament 
cost  nearly  two  hundred  dollars  our  money  ;  now  it  costs 
twelve  and  a  half  cents,  and  the  whole  Bible  fifty  cents. 
Before  the  modern  improvements  in  navigation,  the 
intercourse  of  nations  was  extremely  limited.  The 
world  was  comparatively  but  little  known,  and  many 
portions  of  it  were  regarded  as  wholly  inaccessible. 
Now  every  nook  and  corner  of  the  globe  has  been  sur- 
veyed ;  the  physical,  intellectual  and  moral  condition 
of  the  nations  ascertained,  and  the  means  of  intercourse 
with  all  the  various  tribes  of  man,  are  so  multiplied  and 
easy,  that  if  Christendom  would  rise  in  her  strength  and 


34  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

bring  even  but  a  small  part  of  her  resources  to  bear  on 
the  great  enterprise,  the  present  generation  would  not 
pass  away,  till  the  Bible  had  visited  every  land  and  es- 
tablished its  empire  in  the  heart  of  every  country  on  the 
earth.  The  thing  is  entirely  practicable,  on  grounds  of 
common  calculation  ;  and  from  the  present  attitude  of 
the  christian  world,  there  is  much  reason  to  hope  that  it 
will  soon  be  seriously  and  successfully  attempted. 

One  thing  greatly  facilitating  the  attainment  of  this 
object,  is  the  fact  that  the  Bible,  in  whole  or  in  part,  has 
already  been  translated  into  nearly  two  hundred  of  the 
five  hundred  dialects  that  are  supposed  to  be  spoken  by 
the  different  tribes  of  men,  and  constitute  something 
more  than  one  hundred  distinct  languages.  Between 
sixty  and  seventy  of  these  translations  are  in  the  lan- 
guages of  Asia,  which  are  spoken  by  far  the  largest  part 
of  the  human  race.* 

5.  The  relative  position  of  the  nations  is  such  also  as 
eminently  to  favor  the  extension  "of  the  knowledge 
and  influence  of  the  Bible.  The  nations  of  idolatry  and 
false  religion  are  universally  declining  in  numbers  and 
power.  Heathenism,  in  many  parts,  is  waxing  old  and 
is  ready  to  vanish  away.  In  the  mean  time,  the  nations 
of  Christendom  are  daily  rising  in  number  and  strength, 

*  The  British  and  Foreign  Bible  Society  has  printed,  or  assisted 
to  print,  the  Bible  in  one  hundred  and  forty  different  languages,  in 
fifty-five  of  which,  it  had  never  before  been  published. 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  53 

and  in  the  blessings,  derived  from  the  arts  and  sciences, 
and  from  civil  andj  religious  freedom.  This  their  deci- 
ded superiority  over  the  rest  of  the  world,  in  all  that  el- 
evates the  mind  and  makes  life  happy,  is  seen  and  felt 
by  the  nations  of  paganism,  and  is  beginning  to  under- 
mine their  long  established  superstitions,  and  to  prepare 
them  for  the  reception  of  a  purer  faith.  It  happens,  too, 
that  the  nations  of  Christendom,  which  are  destined  to 
the  most  rapid  growth  and  to  the  widest  extension  of 
their  power  and  influence,  are  the  very  nations  where 
the  Bible  is  most  valued,  and  among  whom  it  has  the 
freest  and  fullest  circulation.  I  of  course  refer  to 
Great-Britain  and  America.  The  former  of  these  coun- 
tries is  holding  empire,  in  the  east,  over  nearly  one  hun- 
dred millions  of  people,  among  whom  she  is  introducing 
her  laws,  her  language,  and  her  religion.  She  is  doing 
the  same  in  Australasia,  Polynesia,  and  various  other 
parts  of  the  world.  Through  the  medium  of  her  ex- 
tended commerce  she  is  holding  intercourse  with  every 
part  of  the  globe,  is  establishing  an  influence  on  the 
shores  of  every  sea,  and  diffusing,  far  and  wide,  her 
language,  fraught,  beyond  any  other  language  on  earth, 
with  the  principles  of  the  Bible,  and  with  all  that  is 
best  adapted  to  recommend  the  Bible  to  the  attention 
and  faith  of  all  classes  of  mankind. 

In  this  great  work  of  diffusing  the  knowledge  of  the 
Bible  by  means  of  extending  the  English  stock  and  the 


36  ON  THE  LITERARY  HISTORY 

English  language,  our  own  country  is  destined  to  bear 
a  conspicuous  part.  We  are  borne  forward  to  an  un- 
paralleled greatness.  In  a  few  years  our  population  will 
rise  to  fifty  millions,  and  as  it  goes  on,  extending  itself 
over  the  immense,  unpeopled  territory  that  stretches  to 
the  westward  of  the  old  states,  the  Bible,  we  may  hope, 
will  follow  in  the  train,  and  every  year  be  adding  to  the 
extent  of  its  empire  and  the  number  of  its  subjects. 
From  the  causes  just  named  upwards  of  a  million  every 
year  are  added  to  the  number  of  nominal  christians, — 
a  constant  rate  of  increase,  greater  than  ever  before  oc- 
curred, and  a  rate  which  is  ever  increasing  in  geome- 
trical progression.* 

Aside,  then,  from  the  divine  authority  of  the  Bible, 
there  is,  on  the  ground  of  ordinary  calculation,  strong 
reason  for  believing  that  the  extension  of  its  dominion 
over  the  world,  so  far  as  to  overthrow  every  system  of 
false  religion  and  engage  the  general  assent  of  mankind 
to  its  truth,  is  a  probable  event.  But  there  is  higher 
ground  to  be  taken.  The  Bible  is  a  revelation  from 
heaven ;  it  is  God's  own  word,  and  clothed  with  God's 
own  authority.  Probability  now  becomes  certainty. 
The  Bible,  in  fulfilment  of  its  own  predictions,  will  go  on 
from  conquering  to  conquer,  till  every  idol  is  demolished 
and  every  false  religion  overthrown,  and  itself  "  install- 
ed in  the  place  of  undisputed  authority,"  shall  become 

*  See  Douglass'  Hints  on  Missions. 


OF  THE  BIBLE.  37 

the  rule  of  every  man's  faith  and  the  guide  of  every 
man's  life.  In  the  mean  time,  let  its  friends  go  on 
multiplying  copies  of  the  scriptures  and  scattering  them 
over  the  earth.  The  principles  of  the  Bible  broadcast 
among  the  nations,  are  the  seeds  of  their  moral  renova- 
tion,— the  elements  of  their  deliverance,  from  the  do- 
minion and  the  miseries  of  sin.  They  may  seem  lost 
for  a  season,  buried  beneath  masses  of  ignorance  and 
sottishness.  But  at  the  appointed  time,  the  sunshine  and 
the  rain  of  heaven,  the  vivifying  influence  of  the  spirit, 
will  descend  upon  the  barren  earth,  and  the  seed  of  life 
will  spring  up,  and  moral  verdure  and  beauty  clothe  all 
these  regions  of  desolation  and  death.  Then  the  Bible 
will  be  seen  and  felt  to  be  the  best  gift  of  God  to  a 
guilty  world  ;  and  every  man  binding  it  to  his  heart, 
will  be  seen  bowing  before  the  God  of  the  Bible,  and 
singing  in  concert  with  all  the  dwellers  on  earth, 
"  Alleluia  !  Salvation  !  The  Lord  God  omnipotent 
reigneth  !" 


LECTURE 


ON  THE 


PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 


AS  GIVING  DIGNITY  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER. 


BY  REV.  T.  H.  GALLAIDET, 


LECTURE 

ON  THE 

PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

AS  GIVING  DIGNITY  TO  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER. 


Every  one  is  sensible,  that  our  thoughts  and  feel- 
ings succeed  each  other,  during  our  waking  moments, 
in  a  constant  train.  There  is  no  cessation.  We  must 
think  and  feel  continually,  with  greater  or  less  degrees 
of  intensity. 

Do  our  thoughts  and  feelings  succeed  each  other  at 
random  ;  or  does  experience  enable  us  to  determine, 
that  there  is  an  order  of  succession,  and  by  what  law 
this  order  is  regulated  ? 

No  one  who  has  noticed,  at  all,  the  operations  of  his 
own  mind,  can  have  failed  to  observe,  that  certain 
thoughts  and  feelings,  are  usually  followed  by  certain 
others,  and  that  this  happens,  with  such  a  degree  of 
uniformity,  as  to  enable  us  to  anticipate  it,  just  as  we 
do  the  recurrence  of  events  in  the  natural  world,  which 
are  subject  to  general  laws. 
4* 


42  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

That  general  law  of  the  mind,  to  which  the  succes- 
sion of  its  thoughts,  and  feelings,  is  subject,  is  usually 
called  the  association  of  ideas  ;  and  the  principle  of 
association  is  said  to  depend  on  resemblance,  contrast, 
contiguity  in  time  or  place,  and  cause  and  effect. 

I  think  of  one  person,  and  immediately  of  another, 
because  there  is  a  resemblance  between  them.  I  think 
of.  a  giant,  and  then  of  a  dwarf,  because  they  are  so 
strongly  contrasted  with  each  other.  I  think  of  the 
loud  ringing  of  the  bell,  and  the  cry  of  fire,  because 
they  both  have  happened  at  the  same  time.  I  think 
of  the  oak,  and  of  the  mansion  near  it,  because  I  have 
seen  these  objects  contiguous  to  each  other.  I  think 
of  the  power  of  steam,  and  of  the  rapid  motion  of  the 
steamboat,  because  of  the  relation  between  them  of 
cause  and  effect. 

In  the  same  way,  our  feelings  are  associated  with 
each  other,  and  with  our  thoughts  also,  and  the  law 
which  regulates  their  succession,  ought,  more  properly, 
to  be  called,  the  association  of  ideas  and  emotions. 

This  law  of  association  is  subject  to  various  modifi- 
cations. The  progress  of  time  modifies  it.  Thoughts 
and  feelings  associated  together  many  years  ago,  (as  a 
general  fact,)  do  not  recur  to  the  mind,  as  often  as  those 
of  a  later  date.  Repetition  modifies  this  law.  The 
oftener  certain  thoughts  and  feelings  are  associated 
together  in  the  mind,  the  greater  is  the  probability  of 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  43 

their  future  recurrence.  This  law,  too,  is  greatly  af- 
fected by  the  perception  of  sensible  objects.  An  object 
of  sight,  of  hearing,  of  smell,  of  taste,  or  of  touch,  if 
formerly  associated  with  any  particular  idea,  or  emo- 
tion, will,  if  again  present  to  the  senses,  recall  that  idea, 
or  emotion,  with  peculiar  vividness.  What  a  rush  of 
thought  and  feeling  enters  the  soul,  when  we  stand  on 
the  spot,  where  we  saw  deposited  the  remains  of  a  de- 
parted friend.  It  is  the  sight  of  the  grave  that  affects 
us,  so  as  no  mere  conception  of  it  can  do. 

There  is  another  very  powerful  cause  which  controls 
and  modifies  this  law  of  association,  and  that  is,  the 
degree  of  interest  which  we  feel  in  the  objects  associa- 
ted, at  the  time  when  they  are  thus  connected  in  the 
mind.  Numberless  associations  of  thought  and  feeling 
daily  take  place  in  our  minds,  and  perish,  never  to  be 
revived  again,  because,  at  the  time  of  their  existence, 
they  excited  no  peculiar  interest.  On  the  contrary, 
such  associations  as  are  attended  with  this  interest,  or 
with  any  strong  emotion,  are  likely  to  return  again, 
with  a  frequency,  and  a  vividness,  in  proportion  to  this 
interest,  or  emotion.  How  many  objects  will  recall  to 
those  who  saw  him,  when  last  in  this  country,  the  image 
of  Lafayette  ;  and  how  glowing  will  this  image  be  in 
the  minds  of  the  surviving  few  who  shared  with  him 
the  dangers,  and  partake  with  him  the  glory,  of  our 
national  struggle  for  independence.     These  objects,  and 


44  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

the  sight  of  this  illustrious  man,  have  already  been  once 
associated  in  their  minds,  with  an  intense  interest,  and 
the  image  revives  again  quickly  and  vividly  at  the 
presence  of  the  object. 

This  general  law  of  the  association  of  ideas  and 
emotions,  subject  to  the  modifications  that  I  have  men- 
tioned, and,  perhaps,  to  some  others,  acts,  scarcely  at 
all,  under  the  direct  control  of  the  will ;  but,  to  a  very 
great  degree,  in  accordance  with  the  purposes  and  de- 
sires of  the  soul,  and  especially,  with  the  leading  pur- 
pose and  desire. 

Let  human  glory  be  the  leading  purpose  and  desire 
of  the  soul,  and  almost  every  object  of  sense,  or  of  intel- 
lect, will  recall  associations  connected  with  the  fancied 
enjoyments  of  this  glory,  or  with  the  means  of  obtaining 
it.  What  thoughts  and  emotions  filled  the  soul  of  Na- 
poleon, when  he  read,  while  yet  a  youth,  of  Julius 
Cesar  ?  Military  power,  armies,  battles,  victories,  tri- 
umphs, a  crown,  an  empire,  dazzled  his  enchanted 
vision.  His  solitary  musings,  his  prophetic  fancies,  his 
prospects,  his  plans,  his  conversation,  and,  I  dare  say, 
his  very  dreams,  were  crowded  with  the  images  of 
heroic  enterpsise, — of  ambition  panting  for  dominion 
and  renown. 

These  associations  constituted  the  greatest  part,  if 
not  the  whole,  of  his  intellectual  enjoyment,  and  tended 
powerfully  to  form  and  develop  his  deeply  interesting 
character. 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  45 

On  the  contrary,  what  entirely  different  associations 
of  thought  and  feeling,  must  have  been  continually 
passing  through  the  mind  of  the  philanthropic  Howard. 
To  do  good,  was  the  governing  purpose  of  his  soul. 
"  He  visited  all  Europe,"  said  the  eloquent  Burke,  "  not 
to  survey  the  sumptuousness  of  palaces,  or  the  stateli- 
ness  of  temples  ;  not  to  make  accurate  measurements 
of  the  remains  of  ancient  grandeur,  nor  to  form  a  scale 
of  the  curiosities  of  modern  art ;  not  to  collect  medals, 
or  collate  manuscripts  ;  but  to  dive  into  the  depths  of 
dungeons ;  to  plunge  into  the  infection  of  hospitals  ;  to 
survey  the  mansions  of  sorrow  and  pain  ;  to  take  the 
gauge  and  dimensions  of  misery,  depression,  and  con- 
tempt ;  to  remember  the  forgotten,  to  attend  to  the 
neglected ;  to  visit  the  forsaken  ;  to  compare  and  col- 
late the  distresses  of  all  men,  in  all  countries.  His  plan 
was  original ;  as  full  of  genius,  as  it  was  of  humanity." 

When  Howard  read  of  Julius  Cesar,  the  principle 
of  association  did  not  operate  in  his  mind,  as  in  that  of 
Napoleon.  It  did  not  operate  by  resemblance,  but  by 
contrast.  Howard  thought  of  power,  but  of  a  power 
far  more  noble  and  effectual  than  that  of  the  sword, — 
the  power  of  moral  influence  ;  of  conflicts — but  of  con- 
flicts with  oppression  and  cruelty  ;  of  triumphs,  over 
vice  and  wretchedness ;  of  victories,  to  succor  the  dis- 
tressed ;  of  the  empire  of  peace  on  earth  and  good  will 
to  men  ;  of  a  crown,  of  heavenly  glory,  and  of  imperish- 
able lustre. 


46  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

He  lived,  in  a  most  remarkable  manner,  elevated 
above  all  the  gratifications  of  sense.  His  associations 
of  thought  and  feeling  were  the  elements  of  his  happi- 
ness ;  and  how  pure  and  elevated  that  happiness  must 
have  been. 

It  seems,  then,  to  be  an  important  truth,  that  so  far 
as  we  aim  to  have  our  happiness,  in  this  world,  derived 
from  other  sources  than  those  of  mere  animal  enjoyment, 
we  are  dependent,  for  a  great  amount  of  it,  on  our  asso- 
ciations of  thought  and  feeling ;  that  these  associations, 
generally,  take  place  in  accordance  with  the  prevailing 
desires  and  purposes  of  the  soul,  and  of  course,  derive 
their  character  from  the  objects  of  pursuit,  and  of  hope, 
to  which  these  purposes  and  desires  are  directed.  If 
these  objects  are  worthy  of  the  affections  of  a  virtuous 
and  elevated  mind,  such  will  be  the  character  of  the 
associations  of  that  mind,  and  such  the  kind  of  happi- 
ness which  it  enjoys. 

But  if  these  objects  of  pursuit,  and  of  hope,  are  low, 
degrading,  vicious,  the  mind  that  directs  its  desires  and 
purposes  towards  them,  must  of  necessity  have  similar 
associations  of  thought  and  feeling,  and  enjoyments,  if, 
indeed,  they  can  be  called  by  that  name,  of  the  most 
base  and  unworthy  kind. 

It  follows,  also,  from  what  has  been  said,  that  those 
objects  of  time  and  sense  with  which  we  are  daily  con- 
versant ;  those  occupations  in  which  we  are  engaged  ; 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  47 

those  duties  which  we  are  called  upon  to  perform  ;  those 
innocent  pleasures  in  which  we  are  permitted  to  indulge  ; 
those  sufferings,  difficulties,  and  trials,  which  we  have 
to  endure,  become  to  us  sources  of  happiness,  on  the  one 
hand,  or  of  wretchedness  on  the  other,  not  so  much  from 
the  immediate  and  direct  effects  which  they  produce 
upon  us,  as  from  the  associations  of  thought  and  feeling 
with  which  they  are  connected.  So  far,  then,  as  we  as- 
pire to  enjoyments,  not  of  an  animal,  but  of  an  intellec- 
tual and  moral  kind,  we  have  it  in  our  power,  (by  the 
control  that  our  desires  and  purposes  have  over  our  as- 
sociations of  thought  and  feeling,)  to  shed  the  freshness 
and  brightness  of  some  kind  of  mental  imagery,  (as  our 
peculiar  taste  may  be,)  upon  all  the  objects  and  pursuits 
which  interest  us,  and  to  see  reflected  from  all  that  is 
around  us,  as  in  the  mirror  of  Nature  itself,  the  splendid 
illusions  of  a  poetical  fancy,  or  the  fairer  and  prophetic 
visions  of  heaven-born  Hope. 

I  propose,  in  the  remaining  part  of  this  lecture,  to  ex- 
emplify these  truths,  in  their  relation  to  that  kind  and 
degree  of  happiness,  and  to  that  elevation  and  dignity 
of  character,  which  the  objects  of  the  Christian's  faith  and 
hope,  have  a  direct  and  natural  tendency  to  produce  in 
him,  in  strict  accordance  with  the  known  laws  of  the 
human  mind,  and  more  especially  with  that  law  of  asso- 
ciation, which  we  have  been  considering. 

A  great  proportion  of  our  pleasures,  and  pains,  proceed, 


48  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

either  directly  or  indirectly,  from  these  bodies  which  our 
souls  inhabit.  We  all  know,  how  dependent  we  are  on 
the  healthful  state  of  our  body,  not  only  for  those  inde- 
scribable sensations  of  ease  and  comfort,  of  cheerfulness 
and  buoyancy  of  feeling,  which  this  healthful  state  af- 
fords, but  also  for  the  free  and  efficient  exercise  of  our 
very  intellectual  and  moral  powers.  The  body,  then, 
from  this  our  intimate  union  with  it,  cannot  but  be  to 
us  an  object  of  deep  interest.  We  almost  contract  a  sort 
of  friendship  for  the  house  in  which  we  have  long  lived, 
for  the  room  which  has  been  the  peculiar  scene  of  our 
joys  and  sorrows,  for  the  chair  in  which  we  have  set 
hour  after  hour,  musing  on  the  past,  or  planning  for  the 
future  ;  and  who  is  there  that  does  not  part,  with  some- 
thing more  than  a  fancied  regret,  with  the  very  lamp 
that  has  been  the  companion  of  his  evening  studies,  or 
the  cane  that  has  attended  him  in  his  summer  walks. 
Such  is  the  power  of  association,  deep,  natural,  univer- 
sal. The  same  power  of  association  leads  me  to  regard 
my  body  with  an  intense  interest ;  for  it  has,  indeed, 
been  the  intimate  companion  of  my  soul,  and  without 
which,  as  I  am  now  constituted,  my  soul  could  not  act 
or  feel.  My  body  is  a  part  of  myself,  and  how  melan- 
choly are  many  of  the  associations  connected  with  it. 
How  much  it  has  added  to  the  list  of  my  sorrows  and 
sufferings  !  It  is  destined,  too,  to  dissolution  and  decay  ! 
Disease  must  prey  upon  it  ;  death  triumph  over  it, 
and  the  inexorable  grave  claim  it  for  its  victim  ! 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  49 

Philosophy  cannot  relieve  the  gloom  of  these  melan- 
choly associations.  Can  Christianity  ?  Yes.  Faith 
in  Him  who  is  the  resurrection  and  the  life,  sheds  a 
new  and  cheering  light  upon  the  tomb,  and  robs  death 
of  its  sting,  and  the  grave  of  its  victory.  What  sublime 
and  beautiful  associations,  it  is  the  privilege  of  the 
Christian  to  cast  round  the  frail  and  dying  body,  which, 
for  a  little  season,  his  soul  is  destined  to  inhabit. 

"  There  are  celestial  bodies,  and  bodies  terrestrial : 
but  the  glory  of  the  celestial  is  one,  and  the  glory  of  the 
terrestrial  is  another. 

"  There  is  one  glory  of  the  sun,  and  another  glory  of 
the  moon,  and  another  glory  of  the  stars ;  for  one  star 
differeth  from  another  star  in  glory. 

"  So  also  is  the  resurrection  of  the  dead  :  it  is  sown  in 
corruption,  it  is  raised  in  incorruption  :  it  is  sown  in  dis- 
honor, it  is  raised  in  glory :  it  is  sown  in  weakness,  it  is 
raised  in  power  :  it  is  sown  a  natural  body,  it  is  raised  a 
spiritual  body."  "  This  corruptible  must  put  on  incor- 
ruption, and  this  mortal  must  put  on  immortality ;  then 
shall  be  brought  to  pass  the  saying  that  is  written, 
Death  is  swallowed  up  in  victory.  O  !  death  !  where 
is  thy  sting  !  O  !  grave  !  where  is  thy  victory  !  the 
sting  of  death  is  sin  ;  and  the  strength  of  sin  is  the  law. 
But  thanks  be  to  God  which  giveth  -us  the  victory, 
through  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ." 

5 


50  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

I  was  about  to  say  that  this  passage  is  one  of  the 
sublimest  nights  of  poetry  on  record  ;  for  what  is  genu- 
ine poetry,  but  the  imagery  of  association  which  the 
creative  fancy  sheds  over  the  objects  and  scenes  that 
are  around  us.  What  can  Roman,  or  Grecian  litera- 
ture produce,  to  compare  with  this  passage,  on  the  aw- 
ful subject  of  death  and  the  grave  ;  awful,  indeed,  but 
for  the  light  which  dawns  upon  it  from  the  word  of 
God. 

But  this  passage  is  full,  too,  of  sound  philosophy,  and 
of  most  consoling  truth.  Its  wonderful  conceptions 
could  never  have  entered  the  mind  of  an  uninspired 
man.  It  stands,  among  the  convincing  internal  evi- 
dences of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Scriptures.  It  stands, 
to  point  to  the  mere  man  of  the  world,  and  to  the  scep- 
tical philosopher,  a  source  of  present,  exquisite  and  ele- 
vated enjoyment,  which  the  Christian  alone  possesses, 
in  being  able  to  redeem  his  sinful  and  dying  body  from 
the  gloomy  associations  which  death  casts  around  it ; — 
to  divest  it  of  its  sepulchral  habiliments  ;  to  disenthral 
it  from  its  dismal  charnel-house  ;  to  clothe  it  with  im- 
mortal health,  and  strength  and  beauty  ;  to  adorn  it 
with  the  robes  of  angelic  purity,  and  grace  ;  to  have  it 
wing  its  way  to  Paradise,  and  there  inhale  delight  at 
every  breath  of* empyreal  air,  and  feel  rapture  at  every 
spontaneous  movement,  and  bliss  unutterable  at  the 
sight  of  every  heavenly  vision,  and  the  hearing  of  every 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  51 

heavenly  sound  ;  and  thus  become  the  ethereal  organ 
of  the  soul's  communion  with  God,  and  the  spirits  of  the 
just  made  perfect,  when  that  soul,  like  itself,  shall  be 
free  from  imperfection  and  sin,  and  endowed  with  ca- 
pacities of  action  and  of  enjoyment,  to  render  it  vastly 
more  superior  to  its  new,  and  spiritual  body,  than  even 
its  present  faculties  render  it  to  its  earthly  body. 

May  I  not  say,  then,  that  even  in  this  life,  and  on 
the  strictest  principles  of  the  philosophy  of  the  human 
mind,  the  Christian  has  a  pure  and  elevated  source  of 
enjoyment,  in  the  beautiful  and  sublime  associations, 
which  his  faith  enables  him  to  cast  round  his  frail  and 
perishable  body,  which  is  peculiar  to  himself,  and  of 
which  all  others  are  deprived,  who  will  not  be  partakers 
of  his  faith. 

May  I  not  add,  too,  that  these  associations  are  sources 
of  something  more  than  this  pure  and  elevated  enjoy- 
ment,— that  they  tend  to  raise  the  character  of  him 
who  possesses  them,  to  a  higher  degree  of  moral  dignity 
and  excellence. 

This  is  true,  on  the  ground  that  the  general  character 
of  man  is  always  materially  affected  by  the  nature  of 
his  enjoyments.  If  these  enjoyments  are  gross  and 
sensual,  they  will  influence  the  whole  mass  of  his  de- 
sires, purposes,  and  habits,  (and  these  constitute  his 
character)  ;  if  they  are  pure,  intellectual,  elevated,  such 
will  the  man  be.     Here,  as  in  the  natural  world,  there 


52 

is  a  powerful  action  and  reaction.  Our  character  influ- 
ences our  choice  of  enjoyments  ;  and  our  enjoyments, 
again,  help  to  form  and  establish  our  character. 

Instead  of  seeking  to  gratify  his  sensual  appetites,  and 
thus  to  make  his  body  the  instrument  of  degrading  his 
soul,  he  who  strives  for  the  mastery  over  it,  and  to  bring 
it  into  subjection  to  the  strictest  rules  of  temperance 
and  purity,  and  who  casts  around  it  those  beautiful  and 
sublime  associations  with  which,  we  have  seen,  the 
Christian  faith  adorns  and  dignifies  it,  will  surely,  from 
the  very  power  of  these  associations,  find  all  his  good 
resolutions  strengthened  ;  the  force  of  his  bodily  temp- 
tations weakened,  and  his  earthly  part  thus  becoming 
kindred  to  his  spiritual,  and,  even  now,  anticipating  its 
future  glorious  destiny,  will  both  add  a  fresh  lustre  to 
his  character,  as  an  intellectual  and  religious  being,  and 
furnish  him  with  new  and  exalted  motives  to  sustain 
and  improve  this  character. 

Again,  one  of  our  purest  and  most  exquisite  sources 
of  enjoyment,  is  the  contemplation  of  the  works  of  Na- 
ture. This,  you  know,  has  been  the  theme  of  poets 
and  of  philosophers,  for  ages.  In  the  language  of  one 
whose  refined  and  elevated  soul  drank  deep  at  this 
perennial  fountain  of  living  waters — 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  Oo 

41  Oh  !  how  canst  thou  renounce  the  boundless  store 
Of  charms  which  Nature  to  her  votary  yields  ; 
The  warbling  woodland,  the  resounding  shore  ; 
The  pomp  of  groves,  and  garniture  of  fields  ; 
All  that  the  genial  ray  of  morning  gilds  ; 
And  all  that  echoes  to  the  song  of  even  ; 
All  that  the  mountain's  sheltering  bosom  shields ; 
And  all  the  dread  magnificence  of  heaven  ; 
Oh  !  how  canst  thou  renounce,  and  hope  to  be  forgiven." 

The  pleasure  which  we  derive  from  these  objects  of 
Nature,  and,  indeed,  from  all  the  objects  of  taste,  and 
of  the  fine  arts,  depends  almost  entirely  upon  the  asso- 
ciations with  which  these  objects  are  accompanied  in 
our  minds. 

These  objects  are  but  the  mirrors  which  reflect  the 
mental  and  moral  imagery  which  our  own  imagination 
casts  upon  them.  What  this  imagery  is  to  be,  as  I 
have  before  observed,  depends  upon  the  peculiar  cha- 
racter of  each  individual,  upon  his  prevailing  desires  and 
purposes,  and  of  course,  upon  the  habits  of  association 
which  those  desires  and  purposes  produce. 

The  painter  will  see  in  many  of  the  human  beings 
which  pass  before  him,  proportions,  forms,  colors,  graces, 
beauties,  that  common  observers  know  nothing  of. 
These  beings  are  to  him,  almost  like  his  own  canvass, 
the  mere  substance  around  which  he  clusters  the  asso- 
ciations of  ideal  perfection,  which  he  has  derived  from 
the  most  finished  models  of  his  art. 
5* 


54 

The  poet,  too,  what  does  he  not  see  in  the  sights,  and 
hear  in  the  sounds,  and  breathe  in  the  fragrance  of 
universal  nature.  He  sees  the  air,  the  earth,  the  waters, 
peopled  with  the  imaginary  deities  of  classical  mytholo- 
gy, or  with  the  fairy  forms  of  his  own  creative  fancy. 

In  the  music  of  the  grove,  the  rush  of  the  waterfall, 
the  roaring  of  the  thunder,  he  hears  unearthly  sounds, 
voices,  as  if  of  the  spirits  of  the  departed,  soothing,  in- 
spiring, elevating  his  soul,  and  calling  him  far  away 
from  these  every-day  scenes  of  common  and  grovelling 
humanity. 

What  is  the  foundation  of  these,  and  similar  pleasures, 
which  have  claimed  the  admiration  of  genius  and  taste, 
through  each  succeeding  age  1  Nothing  else,  truly, 
but  the  associations,  intellectual  and  moral,  which  the 
mind  itself  casts  over  the  various  objects  of  sense  which 
surround  it. 

Now  what  are  the  wild,  and  fantastic,  and,  in  many 
cases,  puerile  and  disgusting  associations  of  heathen 
mythology,  or  those  chaster  and  more  tasteful  ones  of 
modern  poesy,  which  those  who  regard  not  the  beauti- 
ful and  sublime  of  Revelation,  would  fain  spread 
over  the  face  of  universal  nature, — what  are  they,  in 
comparison  with  those  associations,  with  which  the  ob- 
jects of  the  Christian's  faith,  enable  him  to  invest  all 
that  meets  his  senses, — every  sight  that  he  sees, — every 
sound  that  he  hears, — every  odor  that  he  inhales  ;  and 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  56 

give  to  all  such  a  moral  grandeur,  and  loveliness,  that 
it  seems  as  if  his  vision  were  not  confined  to  this  earthly 
sphere,  but,  stretching  away,  above  this  amphitheatre 
of  terrestrial  scenes,  and  beyond  the  illimitable  expanse 
of  those  hosts  of  worlds,  which  almost  dazzle  and  con- 
found his  imagination,  rises  to  the  very  throne  of  the 
Almighty,  the  splendor  of  which  illuminates  and  cheers 
the  whole. 

What  is  matter  without  mind  ?  What  are  forms, 
and  colors,  and  proportions,  without  those  associations 
which  are  blended  with  them  ?  What  is  there  of  the 
beautiful  or  sublime  in  the  forms,  and  colors,  and  pro- 
portions, and  sounds,  and  motions  of  inanimate  objects, 
only  so  far  as  we  consider  them  the  emblems  of  some 
intellectual  or  moral  qualities  of  the  soul,  or  invest  them 
with  some  of  its  attributes  and  characteristics. 

Mind  pants  after  mind,  and  seeks  to  find  its  own  love- 
liness, or  grandeur,  in  all  the  objects  that  come  within 
its  notice  ;  in  the  modest  violet,  the  blushing  rose,  the 
peaceful  lake,  the  majestic  oak,  the  awful  cliff,  the  glo- 
rious sun. 

Mind  pants  after  mind, — and  where  can  the  immortal 
mind  of  man  stop,  till  it  communes  with  the  infinite  and 
eternal  mind  ?  In  the  objects  and  scenes  of  universal 
nature,  shall  it  commune  only  with  kindred  human 
minds,  or  even  with  the  brightest,  fairest  beings  of  ideal 
beauty  and  sublimity  which  the  imagination  of  the 


56  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

poet  can  create,  and  aspire  not  to  a  higher  and  holier 
communion  with  that  Being  who  formed,  sustains,  and 
blesses  the  whole  ;  and  of  whose  attributes  and  charac- 
ter, all  that  is  lovely,  and  beautiful,  and  sublime  in  na- 
ture, is  but  the  faint  and  imperfect  image. 

Let  any  one  who  would  give  the  highest  degree  of 
refinement  and  dignity  to  his  intellectual  and  moral 
pleasures,  and  elevate  his  own  character  as  an  intelli- 
gent being,  weigh  well  the  truths  which  we  have  just 
been  considering  ;  and,  while  he  seeks,  in  the  works  of 
nature  which  surround  him,  a  never-failing  source  of 
pure  and  exquisite  enjoyment,  let  him  inquire,  as  a  lover 
of  sound  philosophy,  what  associations  the  fictions  of 
classical  mythology,  or  of  modern  poesy, — what  the 
sweetest,  loftiest  strains  of  Horace  and  Virgil,  of  Aken- 
side  and  Byron, — can  produce,  to  bear  a  comparison, 
with  those  of  the  Word  of  the  God  of  Nature ;  with 
those  which  fall  on  the  ravished  ear,  from  the  harp  of 
inspired  David,  or  of  the  almost  inspired  Cowper. 

"  The  heavens  declare  the  glory  of  God,  and  the  firma- 
ment sheweth  his  handy-work.  Day  unto  day  uttereth 
speech,  and  night  unto  night  sheweth  knowledge." — "O 
Lord,  my  God,  thou  art  very  great :  thou  art  clothed  with 
honor  and  majesty.  Whocoverest  thyself  with  light  as 
with  a  garment ;  who  stretchest  out  the  heavens  like  a 
curtain  ;  who  layeth  the  beams  of  his  chambers  in  the 
waters  ;  who  maketh  the  clouds  his  chariot ;  who  walk- 
eth  upon  the  wings  of  the  wind." 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  57 

"  Acquaint  thyself  with  God,  if  thou  wouldst  taste 
His  works.     Admitted  once  to  His  embrace, 
Thou  shalt  perceive,  that  thou  wast  blind  before  : 
Thine  eye  shall  be  instructed,  and  thine  heart, 
Made  pure,  shall  relish,  with  divine  delight 
Till  then  unfelt,  what  hands  divine  have  wrought. 
He  who  thus  sees  Him,  or  receives  sublimed 
New  faculties,  or  learns,  at  least,  t'  employ 
More  worthily  the  powers  he  owned  before, — 
Discerns  La  all  things,  what,  with  stupid  gaze 
Of  ignorance,  till  then  he  overlook'd — 
A  ray  of  heavenly  light,  gilding  all  forms 
Terrestrial,  in  the  vast  and  the  minute  ; 
The  unambiguous  footsteps  of  the  God 
Who  gives  its  lustre  to  an  insect's  wing, 
And  wheels  His  throne  upon  the  rolling  worlds. 
He  looks  abroad  into  the  varied  field 
Of  nature,  and,  though  poor  perhaps  compared 
With  those  whose  mansions  glitter  in  his  sight, 
Calls  the  delightful  scenery  all  his  own. 
His  are  the  mountains,  and  the  valleys  his, 
And  the  resplendent  rivers.     His  t' enjoy 
With  a  propriety  that  none  can  feel, 
But  who,  with  filial  confidence  inspired, 
Can  lift  to  heaven  an  unpresumptuous  eye, 
And  smiling  say — 'My  Father  made  them  all.'  " 

Again;  consider  the  influence  of  this  power  of  asso- 
ciation over  our  occupations,  duties,  pleasures,  sufferings, 
difficulties  and  trials. 

This  part  of  my  subject  is  so  extensive,  and  I  have 
already  occupied  so  much  of  your  time,  that  I  can  only 
glance  at  a  few  particulars. 


58  ON  THE   PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

To  be  great  in  this  world,  is  the  lot  of  but  few ;  and 
among  the  truly  great,  it  is  the  lot  of  still  fewer,  to  have 
their  attention  continually  directed  to  great  objects  alone. 
The  learned,  as  well  as  the  ignorant,  the  refined,  as  well 
as  those  of  coarser  mould,  the  king  in  his  palace,  as 
well  as  the  peasant  in  his  cottage,  must  take  a  part  in 
the  common-place  business  and  drudgery  of  human  life. 
We  cannot  live  alwa3^s  in  fairy  land,  and  cheat  mortali- 
ty of  its  meanness,  by  our  waking  dreams,  however 
bright  and  fair  their  illusions  may  be.  Certain  things 
must  be  seen,  and  done,  in  all  their  minute  details  of 
repeated  and  irksome  sameness,  day  after  day,  or  the 
wheels  of  human  enterprise  and  action  must  stop,  and 
our  particular  concerns  stop  with  them  ;  however  eleva- 
ted and  refined,  the  leading  purposes  of  the  soul  may  be  ; 
however  generous  and  noble  its  desires  ;  however  grand 
the  objects  at  which  it  aims,  or  however  splendid  the  re- 
sults which  it  hopes  will  arise  from  their  accomplish- 
ment. 

This  it  is  which  so  often  disgusts  minds  of  peculiar 
sensibility  and  taste,  or  of  heroic  boldness  and  ardor,  the 
imaginative,  the  enthusiastic,  the  aspiring,  with  the  dull, 
and,  in  their  estimation,  degrading  duties  of  commonlife; 
or  if  they  have  but  the  means,  and  can  command  the 
services  of  others,  they  disdain  to  contaminate  their  sight 
and  touch  with  what  may  reduce  them  to  a  level  with 
their  fellow-men. 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  59 

But  fortune  is  capricious  ;  or  in  more  correct  lan- 
guage, Providence  is  just.  The  trial  must  come.  The 
sensitive  delicacy  of  a  fastidious  taste  must  meet  the 
coarse  and  revolting  scenes,  of  labor,  of  sorrow,  of 
suffering.  Loss  of  property  may  produce  the  change, 
or  loss  of  friends,  or  loss  of  health,  or  various  other 
causes. 

Under  such  circumstances,  what  a  host  of  unplea- 
sant and  appalling  associations  crowd  upon  the  soul ; 
associations  of  contrast,  leading  the  individual  to  re- 
volt, the  more  at  his  present  condition,  from  the  recollec- 
tion of  his  past  refined  and  intellectual  enjoyments  ; 
associations  of  cause  and  effect,  leading  him  to  fearful 
forebodings  of  the  future,  and  anticipating,  as  the  result 
of  the  present  necessity  of  attention  to  such  low  and 
common-place  objects,  the  complete  prostration  of  all 
within  him,  which,  in  his  estimation,  constitutes  the 
prerogative  and  glory  of  a  great  mind. 

But  let  these  common-place  objects,  in  themselves 
however  irksome,  or  tedious,  or  even,  in  some  cases,  re- 
volting: to  a  refined  and  delicate  taste, — let  them  be  in- 
vested  with  the  associations  of  thought  and  feeling 
which  the  faith  of  the  Christian  permits  him  to  shed 
around  them,  and  what  a  new  aspect  do  they  assume. 
They  become  objects,  not  merely  of  an  atteniion  which 
an  imperious  necessity  demands,  but  of  that  lively  regard 
which  the  cheerful  performance  of  duty,  in  obedience  to 


60  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

the  will  of  God,  inspires, — nay,  of  that  deep  and  absorb- 
ing interest  with  which  the  Christian's  future  glorious 
prospects  in  Heaven  illuminate  them.  A  beam  of  light, 
as  it  were,  from  the  throne  of  the  Divine  majesty,  from 
the  very  presence  of  God,  breaks  through  the  clouds 
which  overhang  his  path,  and  sheds  around  his  most 
toilsome  steps,  and  over  all  the  objects  of  his  way,  the 
brightest  colors.  Hope,  the  sister  of  that  Faith  whose 
arm  sustains  and  invigorates  him  in  his  journey  to  the 
skies,  and  of  that  Charity,  or  universal  Love,  whose 
smile  refreshes  and  gladdens  his  breast, — Hope  dips  her 
pencil  in  the  rainbow  of  promise,  and  scatters  its  brilliant 
and  cheerful  hues  over  all  that  surrounds  him,  and  he 
can  see  nothing  mean,  or  irksome,  or  revolting,  in  the 
path  of  duty,  because  every  thing  about  that  path  re- 
flects the  light  and  the  loveliness  of  heaven. 

The  Christian  knows  that  this  is  a  state  of  discipline, 
and  that  his  Divine  Master  had  to  be  "  a  man  of  sor- 
rows and  acquainted  with  grief," — had  to  endure  all 
those  trials  to  which  humanity  is  subject,  before  the  con- 
summation of  his  great  work,  and  that  these  very  trials 
were  necessarily  connected  with  this  very  consumma- 
tion. He  walks  in  the  steps  of  his  Master.  He  knows, 
that  his  trials  however  great ;  his  self-denial  however  se- 
vere ;  his  duties  however  repugnant  to  mere  refinement 
of  taste,  or  humbling  to  the  aspirations  of  a  great  and 
expanding  mind  ;  are  all  parts,  and  necessary  parts,  of 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  61 

his  state  of  probation  here  below, — that  they  furnish  the 
lessons  which  he  must  learn,  the  tasks  which  he  must 
perform,  and  the  means  of  acquiring  those  principles  and 
habits  of  action  which  he  must  possess,  before  his  edu- 
cation in  this  lower  school  of  Providence  is  completed, 
and  himself  prepared  to  enter  upon  the  higher  employ- 
ments of  the  heavenly  state.  What  consoling  and 
elevating  associations  of  thought  and  feeling  do  pros- 
pects like  these  enable  the  Christian  to  shed  over  ob- 
jects and  scenes,  which  to  other  minds  are  marked  with 
irksomeness  and  degradation. 

On  the  other  hand,  how  does  the  faith  of  the  Chris- 
tian enable  him  to  invest  all  his  enjoyments  and  occu- 
pations, his  actions  and  pursuits,  his  enterprises  and 
projects,  which  are  in  themselves  of  a  refined  and  ele- 
vated kind,  with  associations  of  thought  and  emotion, 
which  give  to  them  all  a  more  exquisite  refinement,  a 
more  noble  elevation. 

The  very  food  of  which  he  partakes,  is  eaten  with  a 
richer  zest,  and  the  mere  animal  gratification  which  it 
affords,  is  heightened  and  dignified,  by  the  considera- 
tion that  the  sustenance  which  thus  invigorates  his 
body,  is  to  prepare  that  body,  as  the  dwelling-place  of 
his  immortal  soul,  the  better  to  become  the  active  and 
efficient  instrument  of  the  operations  of  that  soul,  in 
serving  his  God,  and  in  doing  good  to  his  fellow  men. 

6 


62  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION, 

In  the  enjoyments  of  domestic  life,  what  cheering* 
and  sublime  associations  of  thought  and  feeling  cluster 
round  the  endearments  and  the  duties  of  the  family 
circle.  Here  the  Christian  sees  a  group  of  immortal 
beings,  to  whom  he  now  sustains  the  most  intimate 
relations,  and,  on  that  account,  calling  forth  the  tender- 
est  sympathies,  and  purest  love.  But  these  relations 
end  not  with  this  life  ;  they  exist  beyond  the  grave ; — 
they  stretch  into  eternity,  and  in  view  of  the  scenes  of 
this  eternity,  they  expand  into  the  relations  which  each 
will  then  sustain  to  their  common  Heavenly  Father,  to 
each  other,  and  to  the  beings  of  the  future  world ;  rela- 
tions,— of  the  refinements,  the  pleasures,  the  grandeur 
of  which,  we  can  now  form  but  the  most  imperfect  con- 
ception. 

The  light  of  the  infant's  eye,  dearer  to  the  mother's 
sight,  than  the  costliest  gem  which  sparkles  in  a  mon- 
arch's crown,  is  but  the  beaming  forth  of  that  immortal 
spirit  which  she  hopes  yet  to  cultivate,  and  expand,  and 
prepare,  under  the  blessing  of  God,  to  become  a  jewel  of 
imperishable  lustre  in  the  diadem  of  its  Redeemer. 
The  smile  which  plays  around  its  face,  and  greets  her 
own  so  tenderly,  is  but  the  happy  going  forth  of  the 
same  spirit ;  a  happiness  which,  in  this  its  gentler  de- 
velopment, she  hopes  and  trusts,  is  but  the  pledge  of 
that  fuller  expansion  which,  in  heaven,  will  be  consum- 
mated in  bliss  unutterable. 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  63 

And  so  I  might  go  on,  and  show  the  ennobling  and 
happifying  influence  of  those  associations  of  thought 
and  feeling  which  the  Christian's  faith  affords,  upon  all 
those  higher  and  nobler  objects  of  interest  and  pursuit, 
which  engage'the  attention,  and  call  forth  the  exertions, 
of  the  greatest  human  minds. 

Suppose  the  mind  of  one  of  our  most  distinguished 
statesmen,  to  be  under  the  controlling  influence  of  the 
Christian's  faith,  to  be  actuated  by  the  motives  which 
this  faith  inspires,  and  to  teem  with  those  associations 
of  thought  and  feeling,  which  the  objects  of  this  faith 
afford.  He  is  a  Christian  patriot  ;  and  in  all  the 
laborious  duties  of  his  official  stations  ;  in  all  his  coun- 
sels with  kindred  souls  ;  in  all  his  plans  of  reform  and 
improvement,  the  future  moral  and  religious,  as  well  as 
political,  aspects  of  his  beloved  country,  pass  before  his 
mind,  and  glow  in  his  imagination,  with  all  that  vivid- 
ness and  beauty  which  his  own  creative  fancy,  in  the 
light  of  the  promises  of  Revelation,  sheds  around  them. 
His  grandest  projects,  and  his  mightiest  efforts,  with  their 
most  splendid  results,  rise  in  his  estimation  to  still  higher 
degrees  of  grandeur  and  sublimity,  because  they  are  but 
the  preparatory  steps  for  making  this  his  beloved  coun- 
try, become,  to  the  millions  and  millions  of  people  who 
are  yet  destined  to  inhabit  it,  the  great  entrance  way 
to  that  holier  and  happier  country,  where  Jehovah,  in 
the  person  of  his  Son,  will  manifest  his  glory,  and  his 
empire  be  one  of  universal  peace  and  love. 


64 

He  seeks  the  honor  of  his  nation,  but  his  estimate  of 
this  honor  is  made  with  reference  to  distant  times  and 
ages,  when  the  records  of  history  shall  breathe  the  same 
spirit  as  the  records  of  Revelation,  and  the  admiration 
of  mankind  be  directed  to  the  heroes  who  have  been 
great  in  doing  good,  and  to  the  nations  that  have  been 
the  benefactors  of  mankind  ;  and  he  seeks  to  prepare 
the  way,  in  the  very  discharge  of  his  political  duties,  to 
have  his  beloved  country  distinguished  as  the  instru- 
ment, in  the  hand  of  the  King  of  kings,  of  diffusing 
the  blessings  of  civilization,  of  freedom,  and  of  Chris- 
tianity, throughout  the  world. 

He  is  a  Christian  statesman  ;  and  he  anticipates  the 
day  when  the  principles  which  he  recognizes,  and  the 
measures  which  he  advocates,  based  on  the  eternal 
foundation  of  truth  and  justice  ;  imbued  with  the  spirit 
of  the  gospel  ;  acknowledging  the  paramount  obliga- 
tion of  loving  our  neighbors  as  ourselves,  and  of  doing 
to  others  as  we  would  have  others  do  to  us  ;  breathing 
peace  on  earth  and  good  will  to  men  ;  when  these  prin- 
ciples shall  regulate  the  intercourse  of  nations  ;  and  the 
universal  adoption  of  these  measures  shall  bind  all  men 
together  in  one  brotherhood  of  affection  :  when  they 
shall  acknowledge  God  as  their  common  father  ;  his 
Son,  as  their  only  Saviour  and  Lord  ;  living  to  do  good 
to  each  other,  as  members  of  one  great  family  ;  and 
inspired  by  the  same '  hopes  of  immortality,  as  fellow 


AND  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHARACTER.  65 

heirs  of  a  common  inheritance^  which  is  incorruptible, 
underlled,  and  that  fadeth  not  away. 

Such  are  the  associations  of  thought  and  feeling 
which  it  is  the  privilege  of  the  Christian  statesman,  to 
cast  around  all  his  occupations  and  projects.  As  a 
patriot^  he  would  so  conduct  the  internal  affairs  of  his 
country,  in  the  spirit,  and  with  the  motives  of  the  Gos- 
pel, as  to  produce  its  best,  its  permanent  prosperity. 
As  a  philanthropist)  he  would  so  manage  its  external 
relations,  in  the  same  spirit,  and  with  the  same  motives, 
that  it  may  contribute,  as  one  portion  of  the  great  hu- 
man family,  to  the  peace  and  happiness  of  the  whole. 

Revelation  assures  him  that  the  basis  of  these  sub- 
lime associations  rests  on  the  promise  of  Jehovah.  He 
delights  in  them  ;  he  blends  them  with  all  his  ardu- 
ous duties  and  perplexities  ;  and  they  shed  over  all  the 
movements  of  the  political  world  in  which  he  lives  and 
acts,  a  moral  grandeur ',  as  much  superior  to  that  which 
the  loftiest  associations  of  thought  and  feeling,  among 
the  statesmen  and  heroes  of  heathen  antiquity  could 
cast  over  their  political  movements,  as  the  objects  of  the 
Christian's  faith  and  hope,  are  superior  to  those  of  the 
worshippers  of  the  gods,  in  ancient  Greece  and  Rome. 

Thus  we  have  seen,  that  the  great  amount,  almost 
the  whole,  of  our  intellectual  and  moral  pleasures,  even 
in  this  world,  depends  upon  our  habitual  associations 
of  thought  and  feeling,  which  cluster  round  the  objects 


66  ON  THE  PRINCIPLE  OF  ASSOCIATION. 

with  which  we  are  daily  conversant.  These  associa- 
tions depend  upon  the  nature  of  our  desires  and  purpo- 
ses, and  these  again  are  determined  by  the  character  of 
the  objects  to  which  our  desires  and  purposes  are 
directed. 

To  what  objects  are  our  prevailing  desires  and 
purposes  directed  ?  A  question,  in  the  solution  of 
which,  not  only  as  immortal  and  accountable  beings, 
but  as  rational  agents,  seeking  to  find  the  highest  hap- 
piness, of  which  our  nature  is  susceptible,  even  in  this 
life,  we  are  most  deeply  interested. 


LECTURE 


ON  THE 


TEMPORAL  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 


BY  REV.  HORACE  HOOKER. 


LECTURE 


ON  THE 


TEMPORAL  BENEFITS  OF  THE  SABBATH. 


One  of  the  most  striking  characteristics  of  the  divine 
operations,  is  the  accomplishment  of  great  effects  by 
means  apparently  simple  and  insignificant.  The  insti- 
tution of  the  Sabbath  bears  this  mark  of  a  divine  origin 
as  distinctly  as  any  of  the  laws  of  the  natural  world. 
And  yet,  after  the  experience  of  nearly  six  thousand 
years,  there  are  not  a  few,  even  in  Christian  lands,  who 
feel  as  if  it  matters  little  whether  the  Sabbath  is  pro- 
faned or  kept  sacred  ;  who  would,  rather  from  a  regard 
to  decency  and  education,  than  because  any  great  con- 
sequence is  attached  to  the  institution,  pay  an  outward 
respect  to  the  Sabbath.  They  see  not  what  wonderful 
influence  on  the  condition  of  men,  resting  one  day  in 
seven  can  exert.  A  thing  so  simple,  surely  cannot,  as 
they  conceive,  make  much  difference  in  human  affairs. 


70  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

Another  consideration  would  lead  us  to  ascribe  the 
institution  of  the  Sabbath  to  a  divine  origin.  If,  one 
day  in  seven,  the  restless  deep  were  invariably  calm  ; 
if,  one  day  in  seven,  it  owned  not  the  influences  of  the 
sun,  nor  raised  its  tides  at  the  bidding  of  the  moon ;  if, 
one  day  in  seven,  no  wind  ruffled  its  surface,  and  no 
wave  rippled  along  its  shore,  we  should  not  hesitate  to 
ascribe  it  to  the  ordinance  of  heaven.  And  who,  but 
God,  could  say  to  the  tide  of  worldliness,  setting  in  with 
full  flood  upon  the  human  race,  when  it  reaches  the 
boundary  of  the  seventh  day — "  Hitherto  shalt  thou 
come,  but  no  further  ;  and  here  shall  thy  proud  waves 
be  stayed  ?"  Would  avarice  voluntarily  cease  to  count 
his  gold,  and  break  off  from  the  pursuit  of  wealth,  one 
day  in  seven?  Would  the  tyrant  unloose  the  yoke 
from  his  slaves,  and  bid  them  rest  from  their  labors,  one 
day  in  seven  ?  Would  the  oppressor  raise  his  heavy 
hand  from  the  feeble,  and  tell  them  to  cease  their  sigh- 
ing and  dry  their  tears,  one  day  in  seven  ?  The  Sab- 
bath was  made  for  man,  but  most  evidently  man 
never  made  it.  There  is  not  benevolence, — there  is 
not  disinterestedness, — there  is  not  wisdom  enough  in 
his  bosom,  to  originate  the  Sabbath.  It  bears  the  marks 
of  divinity  ;  it  most  manifestly  came  down  from  above. 
Man,  after  all  the  blessings  which  the  Sabbath  bestows, 
says  often,  "  Away  with  it  from  the  earth ;"  and  he 
would  never  have  voluntarily  surrendered  himself  to  its 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  71 

dominion,  one  seventh  portion  of  his  life.  The  Sabbath, 
then,  by  the  very  fact  of  its  existence,  testifies  to  a  di- 
vine origin  ;  and  is  an  evidence  which  I  know  not  how 
to  refute,  that  "  verily  there  is  a  God  who  judgeth  in  the 
earth." 

When  we  open  the  volume  of  inspiration,  our  theory 
of  the  divine  origin  of  the  Sabbath  is  fully  established. 
It  finds  an  early  place  on  the  sacred  record  ;  and  the 
arrangement  of  the  skilful  and  mighty  Architect,  by 
which  six  days  were  spent  in  rearing  and  adorning  and 
furnishing  our  world,  was  evidently  adopted  in  refer- 
ence to  the  consecration  of  one  day  in  seven  for  the 
Sabbath.  "  And  on  the  seventh  day  God  ended  his 
work  which  he  had  made  ;  and  he  rested  on  the  seventh 
day  from  all  his  work  which  he  had  made.  And  God 
blessed  the  seventh  day,  and  sanctified  it ;  because  that 
in  it  he  had  rested  from  all  his  work  which  God  created 
and  made."  With  the  institution  of  marriage,  the  in- 
stitution of  the  Sabbath  stands  pre-eminent,  as  dating  its 
origin  before  the  earth  was  marred  by  sin,  and  the 
beauty  and  the  glory  had  fled.  It  has  flowed  down  to 
our  age,  a  broad  and  peaceful  river,  fertilizing  wherev- 
er it  rolls  its  waters,  and  drawing  its  sources  from  the 
Paradise  of  God,  and  from  beneath  the  branches  of  the 
tree  of  life. 

Were  the  occasion  as  proper  as  the  place,  it  would 
delight  the  speaker  to  dwell  on  the  influences  of  the 


72  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

Sabbath  in  preparing  men  for  heaven.  But  I  forbear, 
and  with  the  remark  that  like  godliness,  of  which  it  is 
the  great  promoter,  the  Sabbath  has  the  promise  of  the 
life  that  now  is,  as  well  as  of  that  which  is  to  come,  I 
turn  to  attempt  an  illustration  of  its 

TEMPORAL    BENEFITS. 

These  benefits  are  either  Physical,  Intellectual,  or 
Civil. 

1.  I  begin  with  the  Physical  benefits  of  the  Sab- 
hath — by  which  I  intend  the  influence  of  the  Sabbath 
on  the  body. 

The  primitive  idea  of  the  Sabbath  is  rest  from  labor. 
Thus  at  its  institution  it  is  said,  "  God  rested  from  alt 
his  work  which  he  had  made" — and  this  is  given  as  a 
reason  for  appointing  a  Sabbath,  or  rest,  for  man. 

Mere  spirit,  so  far  as  our  knowledge  extends,  needs 
no  rest.  We  speak  indeed  of  the  flagging  of  mind — of 
the  weariness  of  mind — of  the  exhaustion  of  mind  ; — 
but  this  flagging,  this  weariness,  this  exhaustion  of  the 
mind  results,  as  we  suppose,  from  its  connexion  with  the 
body.  The  organs  of  the  body  through  which  it  acts, 
flag,  grow  weary,  are  exhausted, — and  the  effect  is  felt 
by  the  mind.  We  need  rest  because  we  are  compounded 
of  matter  and  spirit.  He  who  made  man,  was  aware  of 
the  influence  of  matter  on  mind,  and  provided  for  all  the 
exigencies  of  the  case.  A  sort  of  minor  Sabbath  was 
appointed  for  the  repose  of  the  body,  every  day.     Al- 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  73 

most  all  the  organs  by  which  the  various  functions  of 
the  body  are  performed,  sleep  some  time  during  the 
twenty-four  hours.  All  the  organs,  indeed,  unless  we 
except  those  whose  unremitted  labor  is  necessary  for  the 
preservation  of  life,  have  their  daily  periods  of  repose. 
Man  must  respire,  to  live — and  the  blood  must  circulate 
or  he  wTill  die.  And  the  organs  that  perform  these  func- 
tions, must  be  continually  on  the  alert.  It  is  supposed 
by  physiologists  that  the  different  muscles  of  the  body, 
relax  or  sleep,  some  sooner  and  some  later  than  the  oth- 
ers. When  only  a  part  are  relaxed  or  cease  to  act,  then 
we  enjoy  only  partial  sleep.  When  they  are  all  relax- 
ed or  cease  action,  at  the  same  time,  this  constitutes 
general  sleep.  By  artificial,  external  stimulants,  or  by 
powerful  mental  excitement,  the  organs  of  the  body  can 
be  made  to  prolong  their  period  of  action — to  put  off 
their  period  of  repose.  But  there  are  limits  even  to  this, 
and  it  cannot  be  done  without  a  reaction.  The  laws 
which  God  has  stamped  upon  our  physical  nature,  can- 
not be  violated  without  incurring  a  penalty. — He  who 
often  disregards  that  minor  Sabbath  to  which  every 
twenty-four  hours  the  organs  of  the  body  have  a  right, 
will  certainly  pay  the  forfeit. 

But  in  addition  to  this  daily  rest,  it  seems  that  the 

Maker  of  the  mind  and  body  knew  further  repose  was 

necessary.     He  therefore  devcted  to  this  purpose,  or  at 

least  to  cessation  from  ordinary  and  unnecessary  labors, 

7 


74  TEMPORAL    BENEFITS 

one  day  in  seven.  And  I  apprehend  exact  and  extend- 
ed observation  would  show,  that  this  rest  of  the  organs 
of  the  body  from  excessive  toil,  one  day  in  seven,  is  as 
necessary  for  the  highest  health  and  the  most  vigorous 
exercise  of  the  physical  powers,  as  their  daily  repose  is. 
The  effect  of  violating  this  law  may  not  be  so  soon  per- 
ceptible— it  may  not  be  so  immediately  hurtful — it  may 
not  be  so  injurious  to  the  body,  and  yet  it  may  be  as 
real  as  the  effect  of  violating  that  law  which  demands 
daily  repose.  From  the  multitude  of  causes  which  may 
conspire  to  produce  any  given  effect,  it  will  always  be 
difficult  to  determine,  with  precision,  the  influence  of 
the  violation  of  the  Sabbath  on  the  physical  powers. 
We  may  ascribe  the  effects  of  other  causes  to  violations 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  the  effects  of  violating  the  Sabbath 
to  other  causes.  But  unless  the  Sabbath  is  necessary 
for  the  repose  of  the  physical  powers — unless  some  rest 
is  needed  by  these  powers  in  addition  to  that  which,  in 
ordinary  circumstances,  they  enjoy  daily,  why  did  the 
divine  command  include  beasts  that  labor,  as  well  as 
men  ?  "  Thou  shalt  not  do  any  work — thou — nor  thy 
cattle"  The  moral  and  intellectual  benefits  of  the  Sab- 
bath can  be  enjoyed  only  by  moral  agents  ; — bodily 
repose,  then,  is  the  only  possible  reason  why  a  Sab- 
bath was  secured  to  beasts  that  labor.  The  necessity 
for  this  is  found  in  the  laws  which  regulate  their  phy- 
sical nature — as  facts  which  I  need  not  here  adduce, 
plainly  show. 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  75 

The  laws  which  regulate  the  physical  powers  of  man, 
require  the  same  repose.  I  might  appeal  to  individual 
facts,  but  as  some  may  regard  these  as  inconclusive, 
I  will  limit  myself  to  evidence  of  a  more  general  nature. 
"  Writers  on  slavery  say  that  the  incessant  toil  to  which 
slaves  are  driven,  especially  in  the  West  Indies,  by  being 
compelled  to  labor  on  the  Sabbath  for  their  own  sup- 
port, after  having  labored  all  the  other  six  days  for  their 
masters,  is  the  occasion  of  their  short  lives  and  feeble 
health,  even  in  a  climate  which  is  decidedly  favorable 
to  them."  I  find  it  stated  that  "  It  was  ascertained  in 
France,  by  experiment,  that  the  labor  of  nine  days, 
instead  of  six,  increased  the  exhaustion  of  man,  and 
diminished  the  aggregate  amount  of  labor."  This  is  an 
important  fact  in  its  bearings  on  the  physical  influences 
of  the  Sabbath.  That  nation,  it  will  be  remembered, 
during  the  revolution  near  the  close  of  the  last  century, 
discarded  the  Christian  Sabbath,  and  divided  the  week 
into  decades.  Of  course,  men  would  labor  nine  days 
instead  of  six,  before  the  Sabbath  intervened  to  refresh 
their  weary  powers.  The  experiment  will  probably 
never  be  tried  on  a  larger  scale,  or  in  circumstances 
which  will  promise  a  faker  result.  In  the  case  before 
us,  a  nation  of  about  30,000,000  made  the  experiment, 
and  the  result  is  stated  to  be,  that  resting  one  day  in  ten 
instead  of  one  day  in  seven,  increased  the  exhaustion  of 
the  body,  and  diminished  the  amount  of  labor.     This  is 


76  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

just  what  might  have  been  predicted  from  the  divine 
limitation  of  rest  to  one  day  in  seven.  "  God  has  set 
bounds  to  muscular  effort,  which  it  cannot  pass/'  and  the 
ordinance  of  heaven  will  maintain  its  place,  however 
men  may  vary  their  institutions  and  legislate  away  the 
Sabbath.  In  the  experiment  of  infidel  and  revolutiona- 
ry France,  we  have  evidence  which  must  convince  the 
incredulous,  that  all  taxation  of  the  physical  powers  be- 
yond the  demands  of  the  six  successive  days  which  God 
has  allotted  to  labor,  ends  in  nervous  prostration  and  in 
a  diminution  of  human  strength. 

The  distinguished  Dr.  Rush  remarks,  "  If  there  were 
no  hereafter,  individuals  and  societies  would  be  great 
gainers  by  attending  public  worship  every  Sunday. — 
Rest  from  labor  in  the  house  of  God  winds  up  the 
machine  of  both  sold  and  body,  better  than  any  thing 
else,  and  thereby  invigorates  it  for  the  labors  and  du- 
ties of  the  ensuing  week." — Dr.  Spurzheim,  in  a  work 
published  since  his  death,  remarks,  "  The  cessation  of 
labor  one  day  in  seven,  contributes  to  the  preservation 
of  health,  and  to  the  restoration  of  the  bodily  pow- 
ersy — a  jn  addition  to  the  nightly  intervention  of  sleep," 
says  the  North  American  Review,  "  the  preservation  of 
a  sound,  healthy,  active  and  cheerful  condition  of  our 
nature,  requires  an  occasional  suspension  of  labor  for 
longer  periods  ;  and  it  was,  doubtless,  in  the  kind  view 
of  accommodating  his  commands  to  the  constitution 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  77 

which  he  had  given  us,  that  the  Creator  prescribed  the 
observance  of  a  weekly  day  of  rest." 

The  testimony  of  Dr.  Farre,  an  eminent  physician  of 
London,  given,  a  few  months  ago,  before  a  committee 
of  the  British  House  of  Commons  charged  with  enquir- 
ing into  the  observance  of  the  Sabbath,  is  very  explicit 
on  its  physical  influences.  Some  of  the  most  distin- 
guished members  of  Parliament  were  on  the  committee, 
and  the  examination  was  extremely  thorough.  Dr.  F. 
has  practised  as  a  physician  between  thirty  and  forty 
years. 

The  committee  enquire,  "  Have  you  had  occasion  to 
observe  the  effect  of  the  observance  and  non-observance 
of  the  seventh  day  of  rest  during  that  time  ?"  "  I  have. 
I  have  been  in  the  habit,  during  a  great  many  years,  of 
considering  the  uses  of  the  Sabbath,  and.  of  observing 
its  abuse.  The  abuses  are  chiefly  manifested  in  labor 
and  dissipation.  The  use,  medically  speaking,  is  that 
of  a  day  of  rest.  In  a  theological  sense,  it  is  a  holy  rest, 
providing  for  the  introduction  of  new  and  sublimer  ideas 
into  the  mind  of  man,  preparing  him  for  his  future  state. 
As  a  day  of  rest,  I  view  it  as  a  day  of  compensation  for 
the  inadequate  restorative  power  of  the  body  under  con- 
tinued labor  and  excitement.  A  physician  always  has 
respect  to  the  preservation  of  the  restorative  power,  be- 
cause if  once  this  be  lost,  his  healing  office  is  at  an  end. 
If  I  show  you,  from  the  physiological  view  of  the  ques- 

V 


78  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

tion,  that  there  are  provisions  in  the  laws  of  nature 
which  correspond  with  the  divine  commandment,  you 
will  see  from  the  analogy,  that ■  the  Sabbath  was  made 
for  man,'  as  a  necessary  appointment.  A  physician  is 
anxious  to  preserve  the  balance  of  circulation,  as  neces- 
sary to  the  restorative  power  of  the  body.  The  ordinary 
exertions  of  man  run  down  the  circulation  every  day  of 
his  life,  and  the  first  general  law  of  nature  by  which 
God  (who  is  not  only  the  giver,  but  also  the  preserver 
and  sustainer  of  life,)  prevents  man  from  destroying 
himself,  is  the  alternating  of  day  with  night,  that  repose 
may  succeed  action.  But  although  the  night  appa- 
rently equalizes  the  circulation  well,  yet  it  does  not  suffi- 
ciently restore  its  balance  for  the  attainment  of  a  long 
life.  Hence  one  day  in  seven,  by  the  bounty  of  Provi- 
dence, is  thrown  in  as  a  day  of  compensation,  to  perfect 
by  its  repose  the  animal  system.  You  may  easily  de- 
termine this  question  as  a  matter  of  fact  by  trying  it  on 
beasts  of  burden.  Take  that  fine  animal,  the  horse, 
and  work  him  to  the  full  extent  of  his  powers  every 
day  in  the  week,  or  give  him  rest  one  day  in  seven,  and 
you  will  soon  perceive,  by  the  superior  vigor  with  which 
he  performs  his  functions  on  the  other  six  days,  that 
this  rest  is  necessary  to  his  well-being.  Man,  2^ossess- 
ing  a  superior  nature,  is  borne  along  by  the  very  vi- 
gor of  his  mind,  so  that  the  injury  of  continued  di- 
urnal exertion  and  excitement  on  his  animal  system 


OF  THE  SAEBATH.  79 

is  not  so  immediately  apparent  as  it  is  in  the  brute  ; 
but  in  the  long  run  he  breaks  down  more  suddenly  : 
it  abridges  the  length  of  his  life  and  that  vigor  of 
his  old  age,  which  (as  to  mere  animal  poiver)  ought 
to  be  the  object  of  his  preservation.  I  consider  there- 
fore, that,  in  the  bountiful  provision  of  Providence  for 
the  preservation  of  human  life,  the  Sabbatical  appoint- 
ment is  not,  as  it  has  been  sometimes  theologically 
viewed,  simply  a  precept  partaking  of  the  nature  of  a 
political  institution,  but  that  it  is  to  be  numbered 
amongst  the  natural  duties,  if  the  preservation  of  life  be 
admitted  to  be  a  duty." 

In  another  part  of  his  examination  the  committee 
say,  "  Therefore,  to  all  men,  of  whatever  class,  who 
must  necessarily  be  occupied  six  days  in  the  week,  you 
recommend  them  to  abstain  on  the  seventh,  and  in  the 
course  of  life  they  would  gain  by  it  ?"  He  replies,  "  As- 
suredly they  would,  by  giving  to  their  bodies  the  repose, 
and  to  their  minds  the  change  of  ideas  suited  to  the  day, 
for  which  it  was  appointed  by  unerring  wisdom." 

Dr.  P.  further  states,  that  he  finds  it  necessary  to 
his  own  well-being  to  abridge  labor  on  the  Sabbath  to 
what  is  actually  necessary  ;  that  he  has  frequently  ob- 
served the  premature  death  of  medical  men  from  con- 
tinued exertion  ;  that  he  has  seen  many  clergymen 
destroyed  by  their  duties  on  the  Sabbath  ;  and  that  it 
forms  a  continual  prescription  of  his,  to  advise  "  the 


80  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

clergyman,  in  lieu  of  the  Sabbath,  to  rest  one  day  in 
the  week." 

It  has  been  objected  to  this  claim  for  the  foundation  of 
the  law  of  the  Sabbath  in  our  physical  nature,  that  men 
would  not  need  the  repose  of  the  Sabbath,  if  they  con- 
formed to  the  laws  which  regulate  their  bodily  and  men- 
tal faculties.  It  is  said  to  be  from  a  violation  of  these 
laws  that  more  rest  is  required  than  is  furnished  by  the 
natural  relaxation  of  the  bodily  organs.  And  in  proof, 
the  case  of  beasts,  and  birds  and  insects,  that  have  no 
Sabbath,  and  need  none,  is  adduced.  We  might  reply, 
that  some  beasts  and  birds  and  insects  are  inactive 
during  a  considerable  portion  of  the  year,  and  of  course 
here  is  a  compensation  for  rest  one  day  in  seven.  The 
bee  labors  hard  during  summer,  and  so  does  the  ant ; 
but  winter  brings  them  a  season  of  repose.  A  better 
reply,  however,  and  one  which,  in  connexion  with  the 
preceding,  goes  the  whole  length  of  the  case,  is,  that 
man  has  powers  to  which  beasts  and  birds  and  insects 
do  not  even  approach.  He  has  faculties  and  desires 
that  impel  him  to  action,  which,  without  intervening 
rest,  his  body  could  not  long  endure.  He  combats  with 
hunger,  and  with  cold,  and  with  watchfulness,  and  with 
fatigue,  in  pressing  forward  to  the  attainment  of  his 
wishes.  Beasts,,  and  birds,  and  insects,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  moved  only  by  the  wants  of  their  physical 
nature.      In   their    case,  one  law   balances    another. 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  81 

When  hungry  or  thirsty,  they  make  the  efforts  neces- 
sary for  present  relief,  if  nature  does  not,  with  louder 
tone,  demand  rest.  These  tenants  of  the  wilds  and  of 
the  clouds,  that  have  neither  store-house  nor  barn,  are 
not  tormented  to  fatal  efforts  by  the  love  of  gain,  or  by 
the  fear  of  future  penury.  The  midnight  vigils  of  the 
miser,  watching  his  heaps  of  gold,  and  of  the  politician, 
weaving  his  artful  intrigues,  exhaust  not  the  beasts  of 
the  field  and  the  fowls  of  the  air.  Their  case,  therefore, 
has  no  analogy  to  that  of  man. 

The  objector  further  says,  that,  in  a  savage  state,  men 
need  no  more  rest  than  is  furnished  by  the  natural  re- 
laxation of  the  bodily  organs  from  action  ;  and  this 
shows  that  the  law  of  the  Sabbath  is  not  founded  in  our 
physical  constitution.  But  we  reply,  that  it  is  evident, 
beyond  a  doubt,  that  the  Maker  of  man  destined  him 
for  a  state  of  civilized  society  and  refinement.  This  is 
required  for  the  perfect  developement  of  his  powTers. 
We  can  argue,  therefore,  no  more  conclusively  from  the 
wants  of  man  in  a  savage  state,  than  from  the  wants  of 
wild  beasts,  what  he  requires  for  the  vigorous  action  of 
his  system  in  the  excitements  of  intellectual  and  refined 
life.  This  is  the  state  for  which  he  is  most  manifestly 
designed  ;  this  is  the  state  to  which  it  is  his  duty  to  as- 
pire ;  and  this  is  the  state  to  which  he  is  most  certainly 
tending.  It  is,  therefore,  proper  to  term  the  law  of  the 
Sabbath,  wThich  experiment  showrs  to  be  essential  to  the 


82  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

healthy  action  of  his  system,  in  this  state,  a  law  of  his 
physical  nature. 

The  principle  for  which  I  here  contend,  is  not,  then, 
a  theological  dogma — nor  a  visionary  hypothesis — nor  a 
wild  conjecture  ; — it  stands  on  the  solid  ground  of  experi- 
ment ;  it  rests  on  the  same  foundation  as  the  principles 
of  Chemistry  and  Natural  Philosophy — the  firm  basis 
of  an  induction  of  facts.  You  might  as  rationally  ex- 
pect to  come  forth,  harmless,  from  the  heat  of  a  glowing 
furnace,  as  habitually  to  ply  your  ordinary  labors  on  the 
Sabbath  without  hurt.  The  injury  is  as  sure,  though 
I  do  not  say  it  is  as  speedy.  And  from  this  very  cir- 
cumstance, some  may  be  incredulous  in  regard  to  this 
part  of  the  subject.  Because  the  punishment  and  the 
offence  are  not  coeval,  some  may  feel  that  the  penalty 
either  does  not  exist,  or  will  never  be  executed.  But 
men  violate  other  laws  of  their  physical  nature  with 
present  impunity.  The  firm  constitution  of  the  glutton 
or  the  wine-bibber  may  for  years  resist,  and  resist  with 
apparent  success,  the  baneful  influence  of  an  indulgence 
of  appetite.  They  may  feel  as  high  in  health  and  as 
vigorous  in  intellect  as  their  more  temperate  neighbors  ; 
and  may  laugh  at  dietetics  and  ridicule  the  laws  of  so- 
briety. But  soon  or  ,late  they  will  find  it  is  no  safer 
to  violate  the  laws  of  our  physical  than  of  our  moral 
nature.  Retribution  may  come  tardy — it  may  come 
noiseless — but  come  it  will ;  and  the  glutton,  and  the 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  83 

drunkard,  and  the  Sabbath-breaker  with  them,  will 
know  by  their  own  bitter  experience,  that  though  it  has 
"  a  foot  of  velvet,"  it  has  also  "  a  hand  of  steel." 

And  may  I  be  indulged  in  another  remark,  which 
grows  directly  out  of  this  view  of  the  subject.  Nothing 
is  gained  by  the  man  who  habitually  works  on  the 
Sabbath.  He  may,  if  that  is  any  privilege,  labor  fifty- 
two  days  in  a  year  more  than  his  neighbor,  who  obeys 
the  dictates  of  his  physical  nature — to  say  nothing  of 
the  divine  command.  But  he  will  accomplish  no  more 
than  his  neighbor.  What  he  gains  in  time  he  will  lose 
in  vigor ;  and  if  the  providence  of  the  God  of  the  Sab- 
bath should  not  directly  blast  his  efforts,  the  law  of  his 
physical  nature  would  render  his  labor  on  that  day 
worse  than  useless.  He  would,  literally,  "  weary  him- 
self for  very  vanity."  "  We  have  no  hesitation,"  re- 
marks the  North  American  Review,  in  reference  to  the 
Sabbath,  "  in  saying  that  we  believe  labor  becomes 
more  instead  of  less  productive,  by  an  occasional  sus- 
pension." 

Is  it  then  a  hardship,  or  is  it  not,  for  men  to  rest  from 
their  toils — to  retire  from  their  farms — to  shut  up  their 
stores  and  their  shops  one  day  in  seven  ?  Suppose  it 
could  be  announced  from  the  skies,  that  the  Moral 
Governor  of  the  world,  in  compassion  to  his  subjects, 
would  provide  as  well  for  those  who  should  labor  only 
five  days  in  the  week,  as  for  those  who  labor  six,  would 


84  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

it  be  thought  a  hardship  not  to  work  six  days  instead  of 
five  ?  Who  loves  labor,  for  its  own  sake,  so  well  as  to 
pursue  his  toils  when  nothing  is  to  be  gained  by  it? 
But  the  case  of  the  Sabbath  is  even  stronger  than  this, 
if  the  principle  which  I  have  advanced  is  correct,  for 
nothing  is  gained,  but  something  is  lost,  by  not  yield- 
ing to  the  demands  of  our  physical  nature,  wThich  re- 
quires rest  from  our  ordinary  occupations  on  the  Sab- 
bath. 

I  cannot  forbear  to  remark,  again,  that  the  Sabbath 
is,  emphatically,  the  working  marts  friend.  The  rich 
might  contrive  to  get  along  comfortably  without  the 
Sabbath,  so  far  as  respects  its  physical  influences.  Their 
muscles  and  sinews  and  intellect  are  not  exhausted  by 
incessant  labor,  during  the  six  days,  and  they  could 
better  dispense  with  the  repose  which  the  Sabbath 
brings  to  the  weary.  Were  the  Sabbath  to  be  blotted 
out  of  existence,  they  might  easily  secure,  on  other  days, 
that  cessation  from  labor  which  the  Sabbath  now  af- 
fords. But  blot  out  the  Sabbath,  and  when  shall  the 
poor  cease  from  their  labors  ?  Never.  Life  would  be 
one  endless  round  of  toil,  from  which  the  wretched 
might  be  glad  to  escape  even  through  the  gates  of 
annihilation.  The  working  man — whether  he  works 
with  his  hands  or  with  his  mind — who  despises  the 
Sabbath,  who  tramples  on  its  requirements,  is  guilty  of 
a  suicidal  act.     He  casts  away  his  fairest  inheritance. 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  85 

Let  the  luxurious,  who  are  tired  of  inaction,  and  melan- 
choly for  want  of  employment,  think  the  Sabbath  an 
insupportable  weariness  ;  but  let  the  working  man  know 
his  own  interest,  and  regard  his  own  interest,  too  well 
to  part  with  his  birthright  only  with  his  life.  The 
Sabbath  bears  in  its  hands  blessings  for  laborers,  for  the 
loss  of  which  nothing  on  earth  can  compensate.  In 
vain  they  gather  around  the  constitution  of  their  coun- 
try, and  with  their  own  bodies  form  a  living  barrier 
between  it  and  the  machinations  of  demagogues,  or  the 
force  of  despots,  if  they  yield  up  that  Magna  Charta  of 
their  rights  which  was  given  to  our  first  father,  when 
he  stood  forth  in  innocence  amid  the  freshness  and 
beauty  of  a  new-born  world.* 

2.  I  pass  now  to  the  Intellectual  benefits  of  the 
Sabbath. 

By  this  I  intend  that  influence  which  the  rest  of  the 
Sabbath,  with  its  appropriate  duties,  has  on  the  opera- 
tions of  the  mind. 

*  The  very  heathen  observed  the  Sabbath.  Hesiod  says,  "  The  seventh 
day  is  holy."  "Homer  and  Callimachus  give  it  the  same  title."  Por- 
phyry, a  bitter  enemy  of  Christianity,  says — "  The  Phenicians  consecrated 
one  day  in  seven  as  holy."  Lucian,  who  sneered  at  all  religion,  says — 
"  The  seventh  day  is  given  to  school  boys  as  a  holy  day."  Josephus  says, 
"  No  city  of  Greeks  or  barbarians  can  be  found,  which  does  not  acknow- 
ledge a  seventh-day's  rest  from  labor." — Vide  Dwight's  Theology,  vol.  iv 
p.  45,  and  Gurney  on  the  Sabbath,  chap.  i.  We  doubt  not  that  this  obser- 
vance of  the  seventh  day  came  down  by  tradition  from  Noah,  and  they 
probably  continued  it  without  any  regard  to  its  moral  uses,  though  they 
may  possibly  have  had  some  faint  conception  of  its  phvsical  benefits. 

8 


86  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

The  mind,  from  its  connexion  with  the  body,  needs 
its  periods  of  relaxation.  This  is  a  truth  known  to 
every  one.  It  is  implied  in  the  arrangements  made 
for  securing  periods  of  repose,  in  schools  of  almost  every 
grade.  In  our  Colleges  and  Universities,  from  one 
quarter  to  one  sixth  of  the  year  is  given  up  to  vacations. 
Experience  has  proved  that  students  cannot,  with  profit, 
press  forward  in  their  literary  race,  without  more  rest 
than  is  obtained  from  nightly  slumbers,  and  even  from 
the  Sabbath.  The  mind,  if  urged  to  long  continued 
and  close  thought,  sometimes  loses  its  tone  ;-the  balance 
among  its  powers  is  destroyed,  the  judgment  is  impaired, 
and  imagination  gains  the  ascendency.  The  editor  of 
the  Journal  of  Health  remarks,  that  "  During  the  period 
of  study  and  mental  exertion  generally,  the  brain  is  the 
part  excited  ;  blood  flows  to  it  with  greater  rapidity,  and 
in  larger  quantity  than  before.  There  is  increase  of 
heat  in  the  part,  often  a  sense  of  fulness  in  it.  Pro- 
longed thought,  or  indulgence  in  powerful  mental  emo- 
tions, beyond  clue  limits,  fatigues  the  brain  ;  and  if  rest 
be  denied,  inflames  it ;  makes  it  a  permanent  centre  for 
afflux  of  blood  ;  and  the  individual  is  tormented  with 
continued  wakefulness,  spectral  illusions,  hallucinations, 
delirium,  and  even  confirmed  madness."  Like  a  ma- 
chine that  by  incessant  and  violent  motion  bursts  out 
into  a  spontaneous  flame,  the  mind,  overwrought,  ac- 
quires an  accelerated  action  which  is  the  forerunner  of 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  87 

a  giving  way  of  its  powers.  u  Beattie,  after  completing 
his  Essay  on  Truth,  from  a  sort  of  '  intellectual  orgasm,' 
consequent  on  his  efforts  of  mind,  declared  that  he  dared 
not  read  it  over." 

Nor  does  only  the  student  experience  this  effect  of 
unremitted  thought.  The  man  of  business,  whose 
plans  for  wealth — and  the  man  of  honor,  whose  plans 
for  office,  engross  the  mind  no  less  than  literature  and 
science,  experience  the  same.  Let  the  man  of  business 
fasten  his  mind  on  the  accomplishment  of  some  plan 
for  increasing  his  estate — let  him  revolve  it  from  day  to 
day — let  him  dwell  on  it  from  morning  to  night,  and 
from  night  to  morning,  without  the  intervening  repose 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  he  will  at  length  attach  a  fictitious 
importance  to  it,  which  amounts  to  an  aberration  of  the 
intellect,  and  is  in  fact  partial  insanity.  His  judgment 
will  be  warped — and  it  will  be  well  for  him  if  specula- 
tions, which  he  would  once  have  readily  seen  to  be  ex- 
travagant, and  which  his  friends  now  see  to  be  such, 
are  not  the  result.  If  the  causes  which  conspire  to  bring 
ruin  en  men  could  be  fully  unfolded,  this  would,  proba- 
bly, be  found  to  be  one  of  no  slight  influence.  An  object 
looked  at  long  from  the  same  point  of  view,  and  without 
interruption,  swells  to  an  incredible,  and,  sometimes, 
ludicrous  magnitude. 

This  principle,  I  believe,  will  partially  account  for 
some  facts  which  many  almost  ascribe  to  a  direct  divine 


OO  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

agency  in  protecting  the  Sabbath,  and  blessing  those 
who  observe  it.  The  remark  of  Judge  Hale,  so  well 
known  and  so  often  quoted,  may  be  in  part  explained 
on  this  principle.  "  I  have  often  found,"  says  he,  "  by 
a  strict  and  diligent  observation,  that  a  due  observing 
the  duty  of  the  Lord's  day,  hath  ever  joined  with  it  a 
blessing  on  the  rest  of  my  time  ;  and  the  week  that  hath 
been  so  begun,  hath  been  blessed  and  prosperous  to  me." 
He  says,  further,  that  he  never  prospered  in  business 
undertaken  on  the  Sabbath,  or  made  the  subject  of 
forecast  or  design  on  that  day. 

There  needs  no  miracle  to  account  for  this  result. 
When  Judge  Hale  had  refreshed  his  mind  by  the  rest 
of  the  Sabbath,  and  by  engaging,  as  he  did,  with  holy 
satisfaction  in  its  delightful  duties,  he  came  to  his  busi- 
ness, on  Monday,  with  well  balanced  and  recruited 
powers.  He  took  a  new  view  of  his  employments,  and 
in  this  way  corrected  any  previous  mistake  or  miscal- 
culation. The  overgrown  idea  which  had  possession  of 
his  mind,  was  reduced  to  its  natural  size,  and  exerted 
on  his  judgment  but  its  proper  influence  ;  and  his  deci- 
sions and  his  plans,  conforming  to  the  truth,  of  course 
were  approved  and  successful.  So  on  the  other  hand, 
the  very  state  of  mind  which  could  lead  such  a  man  as 
Judge  Hale,  one  so  conscientious,  so  observant  of  the 
Sabbath,  to  ponder  on  unsuitable  subjects,  and  on 
worldly  business,  on  that  day,  is  evidence  that  these 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  89 

subjects  and  this  business  were  exerting  over  him  an 
influence  which  their  importance  did  not  merit.  His 
mind  was  not  conformed  to  the  reality  of  things,  and 
judgments  and  plans  resulting  from  such  a  state  of  the 
intellect,  might  be  expected  to  be  defective  and  to  fail. 

Another  fact  which  is  mentioned  on  good  authority, 
is  familiar  to  most  of  you.  "  A  merchant  of  very  high 
standing  in  New- York,  stated  to  a  gentleman  of  distinc- 
tion in  New-Haven,  that  he  had  particularly  noticed 
that  those  merchants  in  New- York,  who  had  kept  their 
counting-rooms  open  on  the  Sabbath,  during  his  resi- 
dence there — twenty-five  years — had  failed  without  an 
exception."  Now  may  we  not  account  for  this,  in  part, 
on  the  principle  suggested  above?  By  dwelling  on  their 
business  continually — by  depriving  themselves  of  the  re- 
pose of  the  Sabbath,  may  they  not  have  entered  into 
rash  speculations,  through  an  aberration  of  their  judg- 
ment caused  by  keeping  certain  projects  and  objects  too 
long  before  the  mind  ? 

Almost  every  one  knows  the  effect  of  a  short  journey 
on  the  views  which  we  habitually  take  of  our  business. 
We  look  back,  from  a  distance,  and  find  that  to  some 
things  we  have  given  far  too  large  a  place  in  our  thoughts 
and  in  our  hearts.  We  correct  our  false  estimates,  and 
return  to  our  posts  with  rectified  judgment,  as  well  as 
renovated  health.  He  must  have  little  reflection,  or 
more  mental  strength  than  falls  to  the  lot  of  the  mass 

8* 


90  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

of  men,  who  does  not,  by  a  short  interruption  of  his  bu- 
siness, detect  miscalculations  arising  from  an  undue 
magnifying-  of  things  continually  before  his  mind. 

The  Sabbath  has  a  similar  effect  in  clearing  away  the 
mists  which  blind  our  judgment;  and  we  shall  never 
know,  in  this  world,  from  how  many  foolish  and  ruin- 
ous plans  we  have  escaped  through  its  influence.  Mere 
cessation  from  our  usual  employments  will  not,  indeed, 
accomplish  all  this.  The  ledger  may  be  closed  ;  the 
client  be  dismissed  ;  the  scientific  tome  be  laid  aside  ; 
while  the  heart  still  "  goeth  after  its  covetousness,"  and 
the  soul  wearies  itself  even  on  the  day  of  rest.  The 
current  of  earthly  schemes  and  cares  must  be  checked ; 
the  chain  of  worldly  associations  be  broken ;  or,  as  to 
intellectual  benefits,  the  Sabbath  comes  and  goes  in  vain. 
The  power  to  check  this  current^  to  break  this  chain, 
belongs  chiefly  to  the  sublime  and  momentous  realities 
of  eternity.  They  disenchant  the  heart,  as  nothing  else 
can,  of  the  spirit  of  gain  and  of  ambition.  They  drive 
the  "  strong  man  armed"  from  his  castle,  and  give  to  the 
captive  prisoner  a  momentary  respite.  Were  death, 
then,  an  endless  sleep — were  the  objects  of  revelation, 
which  seize  with  so  powerful  a  grasp  on  the  heart  and 
conscience,  only  the  visions  of  fancy,  by  neglecting  the 
sanctuary  we  should  lose  half  the  intellectual  refresh- 
ment of  the  Sabbath. 

But  there  are  cases  which  show  still  more  conclusive- 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  91 

ly  the  absolute  necessity  of  mental  relaxation  on  the 
Sabbath,  especially  on  the  part  of  those  whose  minds 
are  severely  taxed  by  the  duties  of  either  professional  or 
public  life.  One  of  the  most  striking  is  the  case  of  the 
late  Marquis  of  Londonderry,  the  Prime  Minister  of 
Great-Britain.  It  is  stated  in  the  Christian  Observer, 
that  he  allowed  not  himself  the  repose  of  the  Sabbath  ; 
that  he  did  not  withdraw  his  mind  from  his  official  bu- 
siness and  cares  on  that  day.  Overcome  by  the  inces- 
sant burden,  and  the  perplexities  and  responsibilities  of 
his  elevated  station,  he  put  an  end  to  his  life  in  what 
was  thought  to  be  a  state  of  mental  derangement.  He 
took  on  himself  a  load  which  God  never  lays  on  his  crea- 
tures, and  the  apparent  consequence  was,  that  he  sank 
under  the  weight.  Dr.  Farre,  in  the  examination  from 
which  we  have  already  quoted,  says,  u  The  working  of 
the  mind  in  one  continued  train  of  thought,  is  destruc- 
tive of  life  in  the  most  distinguished  class  of  society — 
and  senators  themselves  stand  in  need  of  reform  in  that 
particular.  I  have  observed  many  of  them  destroyed 
by  neglecting  this  economy  of  life." 

These  principles  are  applicable  at  all  times  and  in  all 
countries — but  especially  are  they  applicable  to  our  own 
time  and  country.  The  present  is  an  age  of  excitement, 
and  our  own  country  seems  to  be  the  very  fountain-head 
of  it.  Every  thing  in  our  situation  and  in  our  circum- 
stances combines  to  wake  up  excitement.     Wealth  with 


92  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

us  stands  in  the  place  of  rank,  and  birth,  and  merit,  and 
talents.  Hence  the  intensity  of  desire  manifested  in  its 
acquisition.  Political  parties  are  rife,  and  the  state  of 
our  civil  affairs  often  calls  forth  the  deepest  anxiety  of 
the  heart.  Canals,  and  rail-roads,  and  steam-boats  are 
concentrating  the  different  parts  of  the  country,  and 
stimulating  every  power  of  body  and  mind  to  the  high- 
est pitch.  Where,  then,  is  the  sedative  influence  of 
the  Sabbath  more  needed  than  in  the  United  States  ? 
Where  its  holy  calm  more  desirable  than  with  us  ? — 
Not  here  and  there  one  is  under  the  influence  of  excite- 
ment— were  it  so,  we  could  better  spare  the  Sabbath. 
Nor  is  the  excitement  found  only  in  accumulating  means 
of  moral  and  intellectual  improvement.  It  lurks  in  the 
haste  to  be  rich  ;  in  the  desire  to  gain  office  ;  in  the 
disappointed  hope  of  the  heart ;  in  the  anxiety  which 
watches  over  favorite  plans  in  progress  of  execution  ;  in 
the  thousand  risks  to  which  business  exposes,  and  in 
the  ten  thousand  afflictions  "  which  flesh  is  heir  to." 
These  rush  through  the  soul  like  a  wild  tornado.  The 
excitement  from  books,  and  from  the  means  of  moral 
and  intellectual  improvement,  are  to  these  only  the  soft 
whisperings  of  the  summer  zephyr.  Do  what  else  we 
will,  we  must  change  the  whole  face  of  our  country, 
check  the  whole  current  of  business,  and  transform  the 
whole  genius  and  spirit  of  our  countrymen,  before  we 
can  perceptibly  diminish  the  prevailing  excitement. — 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  93 

The  returning  Sabbath,  in  a  measure,  breaks  its  force, 
and  strengthens  men  to  resist  its  influence.  Discard  the 
Sabbath,  and  the  human  mind,  left  to  bear  up  against 
the  ever-swelling  tide  of  business  and  care  and  discour- 
agement, may  swing  from  its  moorings,  and  dash  against 
the  rocks  of  despair. — An  alarming  increase  of  insanity 
and  suicide  might  follow  here,  as  in  France,  when  du- 
ring the  revolution  the  excitements  were  intense,  and 
the  Sabbath  almost  forgotten. 

3.  As  proposed,  I  proceed  to  remark  on  the  civil 
benefits  of  the  Sabbath. 

Thus  far  I  have  regarded  the  Sabbath  chiefly  as  a 
day  of  rest — as  a  repose  from  the  cares  and  perplexi- 
ties and  labors  of  life.  We  are  now  to  consider  it  in 
connexion  with  those  duties  and  institutions  and  influ- 
ences which  are  related  to  it.  Whether  we  view  the 
Sabbath  as  instituted  by  God,  or  as  adopted  by  man, 
important  duties  have  been  ingrafted  into  this  day  of 
rest.  It  is  the  foundation  on  which  is  erected  moral 
machinery  of  immense  power.  The  worship  of  God, 
public  and  private  instruction,  religious  reading  and 
meditation,  are  so  closely  interwoven  with  the  Sabbath, 
that  we  scarcely  know  how  to  separate  between  them. 
And  unless  we  take  these  various  duties  and  institutions, 
and  influences  into  the  account,  we  shall  fail  in  fairly 
estimating  its  civil  benefits.  It  is  not  a  Sabbath  devo- 
ted to  labor — if  this  not  a  solecism  : — nor  a  Sabbath  de- 


94  TEMPORAL    BENEFITS 

voted  to  dissipation  ; — nor  yet  a  Sabbath  devoted  to  mere 
amusement,  for  the  importance  of  which  I  plead.  The 
first,  labor,  is  against  the  law  of  God  as  laid  down  in 
his  holy  word,  and  as  written  on  the  physical  consti- 
tution of  man.  The  second,  dissipation,  is  equally 
against  the  command  of  God  and  our  physical  nature. 
It  were  better  to  have  no  Sabbath  ;  to  toil  on  through 
life  without  any  respite,  than  to  devote  that  day  to  ex- 
cesses which  waste  the  energies  of  body  and  mind. 
Many  in  our  large  cities  spend  the  Sabbath  in  vicious 
indulgences,  and  return  to  their  employments  exhausted 
and  enfeebled,  rather  than  invigorated,  by  the  Sabbath. 
"  Blue  Monday"  with  such  not  only  testifies  to  present 
want  of  refreshment  from  the  Sabbath,  but  predicts  a 
broken  constitution,  ruined  hopes  and  an  early  grave.* 
A  Sabbath  spent  in  amusement  will  refresh  the  soul  far 
less  than  one  spent  in  the  cheerful  and  inspiriting  exer- 
cises of  the  house  of  God,  and  in  the  grateful  quiet  of 

*  A  large  part  of  this  dissipation  on  the  Sabbath  arises  from  paying  labor- 
ers their  wages  for  the  week,  on  Saturday  night.  A  change  in  the  time  of 
payment  to  Friday  or  Monday— better  to  the  latter,  would,  to  a  great  ex- 
tent, remedy  the  evil.  The  experiment  has  been  tried  with  success,  both 
in  this  country  and  in  England.  "  A  Society  has  been  formed  in  London, 
for  the  suppression  of  Sunday  trading.  They  have  collected  some  facts  to 
show  the  expediency  of  paying  workmen  on  Friday  instead  of  Saturday. 
In  one  of  the  largest  ship-building  establishments  on  the  river  Thames, 
where  from  500  to  1000  men  are  employed,  the  practice  of  paying  wages 
on  Friday  has  been  adopted  for  some  years  with  good  effect."  It  is  much  to 
be  desired  that  this  custom  should  be  universally  adopted. 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  95 

the  domestic  circle.  Beside,  Sabbaths  spent  in  amuse- 
ment prepare  the  way  for  Sabbaths  spent  in  dissipation 
and  sin.  And,  as  Dr.  Rush  remarks,  "  Amusements 
of  every  kind,  on  Sundays,  beget  habits  of  idleness  and 
a  love  of  pleasure,  which  extend  their  influence  to  ev- 
ery day  of  the  week." 

Such  an  observance  of  the  Sabbath  as  I  here  contend 
for,  adds  an  immense  amount  to  the  intelligence  of 
the  community.  I  do  not  mean,  to  their  knowledge, 
merely,  but  to  their  acuteness  and  'power  of  reasoning 
Any  one  can  readily  see  the  difference  which  devoting 
several  hours,  one  day  in  seven,  to  reading  and  reflec- 
tion, will  make  in  the  mind  of  an  individual  who  lives 
to  the  age  of  forty  or  fifty.  I  need  not  dwell  on  this 
point — it  is  self-evident. 

The  science  of  Theology  embraces  a  wide  range  of 
subjects — and  one  cannot  attend  on  the  ministry  of  a 
scribe  well  instructed,  without  learning  much  to  aid  in 
the  regulation  of  his  life,  and  in  the  expansion  of  his  in- 
tellect. The  habit  of  listening  to  logical  and  well-digest- 
ed discourses,  has  a  powerful  influence  on  the  faculty  of 
reasoning.  The  Athenians,  who  were  daily  addressed 
by  the  most  argumentative  and  logical  orators  that  ever 
lived,  became,  as  a  body,  the  acutest  people  at  that  time 
on  the  face  of  the  earth.  It  is  a  fact  which  the  observ- 
ing have  long  known,  that  the  tastes  and  the  intellectual 
habits  of  a  people,  often  resemble  those  of  their  pastor. 


96  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

This  resemblance  will  be  greater  or  less  according  to 
his  talents  and  acquisitions.  It  will  be  modified,  also, 
by  the  abundance  or  scarcity  of  other  instruction,  and 
other  means  of  information.  Yet,  after  every  deduction, 
it  will  not  be  small  in  any  case,  where  a  powerful  mind 
has  the  opportunity,  for  years,  to  mould  and  form  other 
susceptible  and  docile  minds.  We  have  been  told,  and 
we  can  easily  believe  it,  that  in  a  certain  section  of  our 
country  where  the  institutions  of  the  gospel  have  not 
been  regularly  enjoyed,  for  a  long  period,  the  inhabit- 
ants can  be  distinguished  from  those  of  the  surround- 
ing region,  by  their  very  pronunciation  and  modes  of 
speech.  We  boast  of  our  free  schools,  to  which  the 
poor  have  access  without  any,  or  with  very  little,  ex- 
pense. But  the  Sabbath,  in  connexion  with  public 
worship  and  religious  instruction,  presents  a  free  school 
for  the  poor,  where,  almost  gratuitously,  they  can  obtain, 
not  merely  for  a  short  season  in  their  childhood,  but 
through  all  their  days,  knowledge  which  concerns  them 
as  much,  even  for  this  world,  as  what  they  learn  in 
common  schools. 

And  I  must  reckon  among  the  means  of  diffusing 
knowledge  and  cultivating  the  intellect,  which  the  Sab- 
bath  now  offers,  the  instructions  of  the  Sabbath  school 
and  Bible  class.  Leaving  out  of  the  account  all  regard 
for  the  future  world,  and  all  influence  on  the  heart,  the 
Sabbath,    through    the   medium  of   its    schools,  does 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  97 

enough  in  awakening  intellect  and  communicating 
knowledge,  to  compensate  for  the  suspension  of  busi- 
ness on  that  day.  The  Bible,  which  is  the  principal 
study  in  these  schools,  is  connected  with  almost  every 
branch  of  knowledge.  In  order  to  understand  it,  we 
need  to  be  familiar  with  history,  chronology,  geography, 
the  manners  of  ancient  nations  and  their  customs,  both 
as  to  the  arts  of  war  and  the  arts  of  peace,  in  public  and 
in  domestic  life.  And  it  cannot  be  doubted,  that  under 
the  instruction  of  a  well  qualified  teacher,  and  with  the 
books  which  have  been  prepared  for  Sabbath  schools, 
children  ten  or  twelve  years  old  often  know  more  re- 
specting the  ancient  world,  than  many  in  middle  life 
who  would  not  like  to  be  ranked  with  the  illiterate. 

I  know  this  knowledge  may  be  gained  at  too  dear  a 
price,  by  overstraining  the  mind,  which  has  a  right  to 
its  share  of  repose  on  the  Sabbath  ;  but  I  am  persuaded 
that  it  may  be  gained,  by  judicious  management,  with 
no  more  expense  to  the  system,  than  by  wasting  the 
day  in  idleness,  and  leaving  the  mind  a  prey  to  its  own 
energies.  A  degree  of  mental  action  is  favorable  to  the 
bodily  powers.  "  One  of  the  rewards  of  philosophy  is 
long  life."  "  Intellectual  exercise,  of  a  suitable  kind, 
and  carried  to  a  proper  extent,"  we  are  told  on  medical 
authority,  "  contributes  no  less  certainly  to  the  health  of 
the  body,  through  the  sound  condition  of  the  brain,  than 
corporeal  exercise  does  to  the  health  and  vigor  of  the 

intellect. 

9 


98  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

A  proper  observance  of  the  Sabbath  promotes  good 
morals. 

The  bare  rest  of  the  Sabbath  is  favorable  to  morality. 
The  passions  have  time  to  cool.  Anger  dies  in  the 
bosom  without  inflicting  threatened  vengeance.  The 
desire  for  wealth  is  checked.  The  meditated  fraud  is 
discarded.  Reason,  which  amid  the  bustle  of  the  week, 
had  been  jostled  from  her  throne,  resumes  her  sway. 
Conscience  comes  forth  from  the  retirement  into  which 
she  had  been  driven  by  the  spirit  of  gain,  or  by  the 
strife  of  party.  Temptation  is  stripped  of  its  borrowed 
charms,  and  the  hues  of  vice  of  their  enchantments,     r 

But  the  chief  power  of  the  Sabbath  over  man  as  a 
moral  being,  lies  in  bringing  the  government,  law  and 
gospel  of  God  to  bear  on  the  mind,  in  circumstances  the 
most  propitious.  It  releases  the  world  from  labor.  It 
gathers  into  the  house  of  God  the  statesman  from  his 
cabinet,  the  lawyer  from  his  office,  the  scholar  from  his 
study,  the  merchant  from  his  counting  room,  the  me- 
chanic from  his  shop,  and  the  husbandman  from  his 
farm.  The  sacredness  of  the  day,  the  solemnity  of  the 
place,  the  freedom  from  care,  the  breathings  of  devotion, 
the  soft  notes  of  music,  the  power  of  sympathy,  combine 
to  open  the  mind  to  the  sweet  influences  of  truth.  The 
law  of  God,  in  such  circumstances,  is  stamped  on  the 
heart  too  deeply  to  be  erased  by  the  temptations  of  interest, 
or  by  the  allurements  of  pleasure.      It  comes  to  men 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  99 

with  penalties  which  they  neither  hope  to  escape,  nor 
venture  to  brave.  The  utmost  stretch  of  human  penal- 
ties is  insufficient  to  restrain  the  turbulence  of  passion. 
There  is  always  thought  to  be  some  chance  for  con- 
cealment, or  bribery,  or  favor  in  the  judges,  which  will 
afford  the  means  of  escape.  But  from  the  eye  of  God 
there  is  no  concealment,  and  in  the  court  of  heaven  no 
partiality.  The  lawgivers  of  antiquity  were  careful  to 
strengthen  their  statutes  by  the  influence  of  religion  ; 
and  hence,  that  divine  power  might  awe  their  subjects 
into  the  obedience  which  human  penalties  could  not 
secure,  they  sometimes  pretended  to  receive  their  laws 
directly  from  the  gods.  Sensible  of  the  weakness  of 
merely  human  institutions,  they  sought  to  support  them, 
by  entwining  them  around  the  everlasting  pillars  of  the 
skies.  An  awakened  conscience  makes  the  villain  has- 
ten to  unburden  his  bosom  of  the  crime  which  for  years 
had  been  corroding  his  soul.  Can  we  doubt,  then,  that 
the  same  workings  of  conscience  will  prevent  crime — 
will  paralyze  the  arm  of  the  murderer,  and  make  the 
ruffian  a  coward  ? 

And  not  only  does  the  Sabbath  favor  morality,  by 
bringing  the  heart  and  conscience  into  contact  with  the 
sanctions  of  the  law  of  God,  but  also  with  the  requisi- 
tions of  that  law.  Human  laws  of  necessity  fail  to  reach 
many  actions  of  men,  which  the  divine  law,  in  its  wide 
sweep,  brings  within  the  pale  of  its  requirements.     I 


100  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

cannot  illustrate  this  thought  better  than  in  the  words 
of  an  eminent  civilian  of  this  state.  "  Duties  are  en- 
joined in  the  Bible  which  no  human  tribunal  ever  at- 
tempted to  enforce.  Courteousness,  kindness,  gratitude, 
temperance,  in  its  most  enlarged  sense  ;  order,  discre- 
tion, industry,  filial  and  parental  affection,  forgiveness  of 
injuries,  humility  and  charity,  are  all  beyond  the  reach 
of  legislative  enactment ;  but  in  the  Bible,  they  are  re- 
commended in  the  most  happy  manner,  and  command- 
ed by  infinite  authority."  We  can  all  see,  at  a  single 
glance,  that  these  duties  which  are  inculcated  in  the  Bi- 
ble, and  through  the  medium  of  the  Sabbath  are  im- 
pressed on  the  human  mind,  involve  the  happiness,  and 
affect  the  morals,  of  every  individual  in  society,  though 
they  are  entirely  beyond  the  reach  of  human  enact- 
ments. 

Human  laws  aim  only  to  control  overt  acts — they 
cannot  reach  principles  and  motives.  Men  never  le- 
gislate to  check  the  operations  of  the  heart — as  well  might 
they  legislate  to  control  the  current  of  the  blood  which 
flows  from  its  recesses.  But  the  heart  is  the  chief  seat 
of  human  action .  Here  originate  those  schemes  of  guilt 
which  burst  out  and  desolate  society.  H  ere  dwell  evil 
thoughts  and  evil  purposes  ;  here  they  lie  in  ambush 
until  the  proper  hour  arrives  for  action.  Would  you 
prevent  their  piracies  on  the  peace  of  society,  you  must 
ferret  them  out,  you  must  break  up  their  habitations. 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  101 

It  is  not  enough  to  drive  them  to  their  lurking  places ; 
another  hour  and  they  may  again  break  forth  in  all  their 
fury.  But  there  is  an  eye  that  pierces  this  gloomy  re- 
gion ;  there  is  a  law  that  stretches  its  claims  over  these 
habitations  of  sin  ;  there  is  a  voice  which  echoes  through 
these  retirements  beyond  the  reach  of  the  voice  of  man  ; 
there  is  a  tribunal  whose  jurisdiction  extends  over  the 
secret  thoughts  of  the  soul.  It  is  the  Sabbath  which 
gives  them  their  chief  power  in  our  world,  and  in  this 
way  raises  a  barrier  against  the  corruptions  of  the  hu- 
man heart. 

I  am  sure  my  audience  will  not  regard  me  as  obtru- 
ding upon  them  improperly  a  professional  consideration, 
when  I  urge  the  purifying  influences  of  the  Gospel, 
brought  to  bear  on  the  mind,  amid  the  stillness  and  calm 
of  Holy  time.  If  these  influences  are  real,  they  are 
eminently  practical,  and  they  eminently  appear  in  con- 
nexion with  the  morals  of  a  community.  The  Gospel 
does  what  human  laws  can  never  accomplish  ; — it  dif- 
fuses in  the  heart  a  disrelish  for  vice.  It  takes  away 
that  spirit  of  avarice,  that  love  of  the  world,  which  is  the 
prime  cause  of  oppression,  and  dishonesty,  and  fraud. 
It  checks  that  ambition  which  would  overturn  the  state, 
or  sacrifice  the  interests  of  others,  to  build  its  greatness 
on  their  ruins.  It  promotes  temperance,  and  thus  cuts 
off  ten  thousand  avenues  to  misery  and  violence  and 
blood.     It  cherishes  that  love  to  our  neighbor,  which 

9* 


102  TEMPORAL    BENEFITS 

a 

seeks  his  good  much  beyond  the  demands  of  merely 
human  laws. 

The  Sabbath  is  the  key-stone  which  binds  together 
all  the  commands  of  the  moral  law.  Without  it,  the 
whole  government  of  God  over  men,  as  exerted  through 
the  medium  of  commandments,  of  laws,  would  be  pros- 
trated. It  is  the  sun  from  which  all  other  parts  of  the 
system  receive  their  light  and  heat  and  quickening  effi- 
cacy. When  its  light  is  eclipsed,  the  other  planets  of 
the  moral  system  are  shrouded  in  impenetrable  dark- 
ness. One  after  another  they  leave  the  human  sight, 
and  man  is  left  to  wend  his  gloomy  way  amid  crime 
and  misery  and  woe.  Idolatry  soon  sets  up  her  altars 
and  claims  homage  for  her  thousand  gods.  Profane- 
ness  rejoices  in  the  growing  numbers  and  recklessness 
of  her  votaries.  Faction,  misrule  and  filial  ingratitude 
riot  without  restraint.  Murder  walks  forth  unabashed, 
and  scarcely  waits  for  midnight  to  conceal  the  work  of 
death.  Impurity,  "  of  which  it  is  a  shame  even  to 
speak,"  defiles  the  earth,  and  becomes  a  part  of  religious 
worship.  Theft  multiplies,  like  the  locust.  Perjury 
offers  its  services  to  every  one  who  wishes  to  destroy  the 
property,  the  reputation  or  the  fife  of  his  neighbor. 
And  covetousness,  that  it  may  have  the  means  of  break- 
ing every  commandment,  and  gratifying  every  passion 
of  a  corrupt  heart,  never  says, — "  It  is  enough." 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  103 

For  a,  full  verification  of  these  general  principles,  we 
must  resort  to  heathen  lands — but  to  no  small  extent 
they  are  verified  in  lands  where  the  Sabbath  is  a  day 
for  amusement,  and  shows,  and  military  parade.  Com- 
pare France  with  Scotland,  or  compare  Spain  or  Italy 
with  New  England.  I  am  aware  that  general  compa- 
risons on  this  subject  may  be  deceptive,  for  other  causes 
than  the  Sabbath  influence  the  morality  of  these  coun- 
tries. But  then,  it  must  be  remembered,  that  so  far  as 
regards  causes  that  favor  morality,  they  are,  in  nearly 
every  case,  dependent  for  their  existence  and  power,  on 
the  Sabbath. 

But  leaving  general  comparisons,  look  at  the  ranks 
of  criminals,  and  see  whether  you  can  trace  their  course 
to  the  house  of  God.  Will  you  find  among  them,  in 
any  large  proportion,  those  who  have  been  taught  in  the 
great  congregation  on  the  Sabbath,  to  obey  the  law  of 
God  ?  Here  we  have  a  test  that  will  not  deceive. 
The  former  chaplain  of  our  State  Prison  remarked,  in  a 
public  address,  that  in  his  acquaintance  with  criminals, 
which  has  not  been  small,  of  every  100,  about  90,  if  I 
mistake  not,  had  habitually  disregarded  the  Sabbath. 
"In  the  Charlestown  Prison,  Mass.,  256  prisoners  were 
examined,  at  the  request  of  Rev.  Mr.  Tuckerman,  of 
Boston,  who,  among  other  questions,  proposed  the  fol- 
lowing— '  How  many,  before  their  conviction,  lived  in 
a  general  violation  of  the  Lord's  day  V    Answer,  182." 


104  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

And  it  must  be  remembered,  here,  that  the  number  of 
habitual  sabbath-breakers  in  New  England,  is  yet  com- 
paratively small.  But  from  this  small  number,  probably, 
are  taken  at  least  three-fourths  of  the  criminals  that 
expiate  their  crimes  on  the  gallows  and  in  State  Prisons. 

Judge  Hale  remarks,  "  that  of  all  the  persons  who 
were  convicted  of  capital  crimes  while  he  was  upon  the 
bench,  he  found  but  very  few  who  would  not,  on  en- 
quiry, confess  that  they  began  their  career  of  wicked- 
ness by  neglecting  the  duties  of  the  Sabbath,  and  indul- 
ging in  vicious  conduct  on  that  day."  Blackstone  re- 
marks, "  that  a  corruption  of  morals  usually  follows  a 
profanation  of  the  Sabbath." 

Another  proof  of  the  influence  of  instruction  on  the 
Sabbath  in  preventing  crime,  may  be  drawn  from  the 
fact  that  it  is  very  rare  to  find  one  who  has  spent  any 
considerable  time  in  a  Sabbath  school,  among  the  num- 
ber of  criminals.  The  Managers  of  the  Prison  Disci- 
pline Society  remark,  in  their  report  for  1827,  "  We 
have  never  heard  of  a  Sabbath  school  scholar  in  prison." 
In  1829,  they  remark  that  "  there  are  very  few  Sabbath 
school  scholars  in  prison,  in  Europe  or  America."  "  Of 
all  the  pupils  of  the  celebrated  Robert  Raikes,  not  one 
was  ever  convicted  of  flagrant  crime.  Of  500  convicts 
in  one  of  our  prisons  recently  examined,  but  three  had 
ever  been  Sabbath  school  scholars." 


OP  THE  SABBATH.  105 

So  convincing  and  palpable  is  the  influence  of  the 
Sabbath  on  morals,  that  almost  all  Christian  govern- 
ments have  adopted  it  among  their  civil  institutions. 

The  Sabbath  exerts  a  most  favorable  influence  on 
domestic  comfort  and  happiness.  The  fourth  com- 
mandment has  very  expressively  been  termed  "a  fami- 
ly commandment."  On  the  Sabbath,  the  calls  of 
business  are  silenced  ;  the  laws  of  fashion  are  suspend- 
ed ;  a  veil  is  drawn  over  the  amusements  and  scenes  of 
social  life.  Society  is,  on  that  day,  resolved  into  its 
original  elements,  except  in  the  hours  of  public  worship ; 
and  families,  reunited  and  free  from  interruption,  and 
from  the  presence  of  strangers,  in  the  interchange  of 
mutual  affection,  taste  the  luxury  of  domestic  bliss. 
The  parent  is  not  tempted,  by  the  pressure  of  business, 
to  neglect  entirely,  or  to  shorten  instructions  to  his  chil- 
dren. The  children  are  not  tempted,  by  the  sight  of 
companions  engaged  in  sports  and  play,  to  be  inatten- 
tive to  counsel,  or  to  wish  it  were  ended.  Home  be- 
comes the  centre  of  interest — external  allurements  lose 
their  power — silence  and  solitude  reign  even  "  in  the 
city  full."  We  lay  aside  the  armor  which  must  be 
worn  in  our  daily  warfare  with  the  world — wipe  the 
dust  and  sweat  from  our  brow,  and  rejoice  in  this  short 
release  from  struggles  and  contentions,  as  the  soldier 
rejoices  in  the  truce  which  restores  him,  for  a  brief  space, 
to  the  bosom  of  his  friends.     Reposing  under  our  own 


106  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

vine,  we  forget  the  selfishness  of  interest,  the  heartless- 
ness  of  fashion,  and  the  tedium  of  care. 

Time  would  fail  me  to  point  out  the  effect  of  the  Sab- 
bath on  habits  of  neatness  and  cleanliness,  or  to  show 
their  connexion  with  good  morals. 

But  I  must  advert,  a  moment,  to  the  influence  of  the 
Sabbath  in  promoting  good  order  and  harmony  in  so- 
ciety',  through  the  medium  of  public  worship.  Of  all 
occasions  on  which  men  unite  for  the  cultivation  of  good 
will,  perhaps  public  worship  on  the  Sabbath  is  the  most 
eligible.  Here  they  are  reminded  of  their  common  re- 
lation to  the  same  Father — here  they  behold,  set  before 
them,  the  same  Saviour — here,  too,  if  ever,  they  will 
feel  themselves  involved  in  the  same  calamities,  a  cir- 
cumstance of  peculiar  strength  in  forming  sympathy  of 
soul — here  they  make  common  supplications,  and  look 
forward  to  the  same  heaven,  where  they  must  lay  aside 
mutual  dislike,  and  extend  the  hand  that  is  now  reluc- 
tant, in  celestial  friendship — here,  too,  the  voice  of  God 
echoes  in  tones  which  the  ear  cannot  exclude  ;  "  He 
that  loveth  not  his  brother  whom  he  hath  seen,  how 
shall  he  love  God  whom  he  hath  not  seen. — If  ye  for- 
give not  men,  their  trespasses,  neither  will  your  heavenly 
Father  forgive  your  trespasses."  And  who  is  there,  so 
hardened,  that  in  the  house  and  in  the  very  presence 
of  the  God  of  love,  he  dare  brood  over  fancied  injuries, 
or  cherish  the  memory  of  real  wrongs  ?     The  temples 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  107 

of  the  Lord,  scattered  over  the  face  of  the  earth,  seem 
like  so  many  cities  of  refuge,  where  our  souls  may  retire 
in  safety,  from  the  prejudices  and  enmities  which  disturb 
our  peace  and  seek  our  lives,  amid  the  pleasures  and 
business  of  active  scenes.  And  who  is  so  in  love  with 
death,  as  to  throw  open  these  sacred  gates,  and  invite 
the  destroyers  of  his  soul  to  enter  and  slay  him  at  the 
very  horns  of  the  altar  ? 

Have  I  exaggerated  the  soothing  influence  of  public 
worship  on  the  good  order  and  harmony  of  society? 
I  make  the  appeal  to  men  whose  business  has  led  them 
to  notice  facts  of  this  kind,  and  confidently  ask,  if  com- 
munities where  the  Sabbath  is  not  observed,  and  public 
worship  not  regularly  enjoyed,  are  not  more  quarrel- 
some and  litigious  than  other  communities  ?  Is  it  not 
where  the  tavern  is  oftener  thronged  than  the  sanctuary, 
on  the  Sabbath,  that  intemperance  holds  his  court,  and 
passion  deals  out  his  blows,  and  fraud  contrives  his  vil- 
lanies,  and  idleness  contracts  debts,  to  be  paid  only  at 
the  last  hour  of  "  the  law's  delay  ?"  May  not  all  this 
be  read  on  the  records  of  tribunals  of  justice,  and  in 
language  which  none  can  either  mistake  or  evade  ? 

If  the  Sabbath  is,  then,  essential  to  the  best  exercise 
of  the  physical  and  intellectual  powers  of  individuals, 
and  to  the  intelligence  and  good  morals  of  society,  who 
can  estimate  its  value  ?  And  yet  who  does  not  know 
that  the  respect  for  the  Sabbath  felt  and  manifested  by 


108  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

our  forefathers,  is  not  now  to  be  found  ?  Is  not  to  be 
found,  did  I  say  ? — I  ought  to  have  said,  is  despised  and 
ridiculed  by  many  who  boast  of  their  patriotism  and  of 
their  regard  for  the  common  people.  Not  a  trait  among 
all  that  distinguished  and  ennobled  our  Puritan  sires, 
was  more  vivid  than  their  love  for  the  Sabbath  ;  and 
so  long  as  I  can  trace  the  influence  of  the  Sabbath  on 
their  institutions,  I  will  not  tax  them  with  Jewish  strict- 
ness on  that  holy  day.  I  can  pardon,  at  least,  a  sanc- 
tification  of  the  Sabbath  which  would  now  be  considered 
as  bordering  on  superstition,  when  kings  were  inviting 
their  subjects  to  spend  the  day  in  May-games  and  mor- 
rice-dances. 

We  have  fallen  on  other  times ;  and  of  whatever  else 
we  are  guilty,  no  one  will  accuse  us  of  an  overweening 
regard  for  the  Sabbath.  We  are  in  no  danger  of  Juda- 
izing  in  our  mode  of  its  observance.  We  verge  to  another 
and  far  more  dangerous  extreme.  Some  now  would 
thrust  out  the  Sabbath  as  an  impostor  who  has  already 
thriven  too  long  on  the  credulity  of  mankind.  Others 
regard  it  as  they  would  a  superannuated  pastor,  venera- 
ble for  his  former  influence  ;  or  as  a  worn  out  servant, 
barely  tolerated  for  his  past  services,  whom  yet  it  would 
not  be  decent  to  cast  on  the  wide  world,  though  at 
present  he  yields  no  adequate  returns  for  his  support. 
A  combination  of  powerful  causes  is  impelling  our  na- 
tion to  abandon  the  Sabbath  as  a  day  of  rest  and  devo- 


OF  THE  SABBATH.  109 

tion.  The  rapid  growth  and  unfavorable  influence  of 
our  large  cities — the  increase  of  luxury  and  wealth — 
the  influx  of  foreigners  not  accustomed  to  a  strict  observ- 
ance of  holy  time — the  growing  numbers  that  dislike 
religious  principle  and  religious  restraint — a  population 
outstripping  the  march  of  religious  institutions,  and  the 
means  of  grace — the  high  wrought  excitement  already 
alluded  to  as  springing  from  our  peculiar  situation — the 
running  of  steam  boats  and  canal  boats,  and  rail  road 
cars — and,  last,  not  least,  the  example  of  government 
in  transporting  the  mail,  at  the  price  of  the  violation  of 
every  Sabbath  by  26,000  men  ;  all  these  and  many 
other  causes  are  combining  to  obliterate  an  institution 
which  is  as  necessary  to  the  existence  of  our  rights  and 
liberties,  as  rain  and  sunshine  are  to  the  fruits  of  the 
earth.  For  however  the  strong  arm  of  monarchy  may 
repress  the  heavings  and  stragglings  of  the  corrupt  heart, 
virtue  only,  which  withers  with  the  desecration  of  the 
Sabbath,  can  sustain  a  republic  against  the  rude  shock 
of  unchained  passion. 

But  the  brightest  glories  of  the  Sabbath  are  yet  to 
burst  on  our  world.  Like  the  Gospel,  its  adaptation  to 
the  wants  of  men  is  more  clearly  seen,  the  nearer  they 
approximate  to  the  perfection  of  their  nature.  The 
savage,  the  demands  of  whose  body  are  the  ordinary 
measure  of  his  physical  exertion,  scarcely  seems  to  need 
the  relaxation  of  the  Sabbath.  The  arts  and  refine- 
10 


110  TEMPORAL  BENEFITS 

ments  of  civilized  life,  however,  awaken  new  desires ; 
and  the  efforts  to  gratify  these  desires,  exhaust  the  body 
and  the  mind.  The  present  age  is  replete  with  scenes 
and  incidents  to  stimulate  the  intellect,  and  absorb  the 
feelings  of  the  heart.  But  the  coming  future  shows 
signs  of  a  wilder  sky  and  a  more  tempestuous  ocean. 
Prophecy  holds  out  its  signals  of  crumbling  thrones  and 
falling  states — of  change  pressing  on  change,  and  over- 
turning on  overturning.  And  science  will  thicken  its 
discoveries,  and  art  will  multiply  its  inventions,  and 
benevolence  will  urge  the  lagging  step,  and  draw  out 
the  last  energies  of  the  60ul.  Light  will  blaze  into  the 
understanding,  and  motive  will  be  condensed  and  con- 
centrated on  the  heart,  and  love  will  strain  every  nerve 
and  tax  every  muscle.  Then,  the  repose  of  the  Sab- 
bath, which  is  now  regarded  as  merely  salutary,  will 
be  felt  to  be  indispensable  ;  will  be  anticipated  with 
the  impatience  of  the  hireling  who  watches  the  length- 
ening shadows  of  the  evening,  and  will  be  longed  for, 
as  the  traveller  in  the  desert  longs  for  the  fountain 
where  he  can  cool  his  burning  lips,  and  bathe  his  weary 
limbs. 

And  the  moral  influence  of  the  Sabbath,  too,  great  as 
it  now  is,  will  yet  be  multiplied  a  thousand  fold.  Look- 
ing down  the  vista  of  future  years,  I  see  temples  of 
the  living  God  crowning  every  hill — I  hear  the  song  of 
salvation  swelling  from  every  valley.     The  millions  of 


OP  THE  SABBATH.  Ill 

China  are  bending  over  the  pages  of  the  Bible,  and  the 
plains  of  India  are  studded  with  Sabbath  schools. 
Through  the  agency  of  the  Sabbath,  the  law  of  God 
quickens  the  conscience,  and  the  Gospel  of  God  puri- 
fies the  heart,  of  the  world.  Who,  then,  would  cast 
poison  into  the  waters  of  this  river  of  life  ?  Who  would 
scatter  in  the  winds,  these  leaves  of  the  tree  of  life, 
which  are  for  the  healing  of  the  nations  ?  Palsied  be 
the  heart  that  could  devise,  and  the  hand  that  could 
execute,  this  moral  treason  against  the  whole  human 
race. 


DATE  DUE 

ii  niiirdirttoi 



GAYLORD 

PRINTED  IN  US    A. 

BS530 .H39 

Lectures,  on  the  literary  history  of  the 


Princeton  Theological  Seminary-Speer  Library 


